The Wrath of Hell
by Fulgour
Summary: Xander is offered a chance by Satan to become the leader of his army. Xover with Spawn. F/X
1. An offer you can't refuse...

Standard stuff:  
Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Spawn. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction, 'cause I wouldn't be a fan, would I?  
Feedback: Please. Tell me what I'm doing right. Tell me what I'm doing wrong. Tell me what your day was like. Just review!  
Distribution: If you want it, please fill out form 7A of the International Fiction Requsitions Act and ask you attorney to get it too me... or you could take it, send me a notifying e-mail, and display it under my name (Fulgour)  
  
  
This story takes place somewhere in the fourth season. Oz and Willow have broken up, but Oz has decided to stay in this AU (Oz is the man. One liners take on a whole new meaning.) and they are friendly, though uncomfortable around each other. Oz and Tara are very awkward around each other. Anya has not come back, Dawn is here (Though Glory has not arrived in Sunnydale yet, and the 'Key' is unheard of. Buffy and Riley are happy together, as are Willow and Tara. Oz has hooked up with non-furry Amy. The initiative is not here, as it was disbanded upon early finding and destroying of Adam. By the way, I hate Riley. As should you. If for some reason you like Riley (i.e. you come from Utah) this story is probably not for you.   
  


Thanks: Goes out to all of those people who have reviewed;

Ryan, Malaskor, Stephanie, Grell, shro42, Boy of the Enders, Boulder, ShadowHawk, Scott Timms, ??????, Bolo, 2crude4u, Azrael messenger of death, Stone, Katla the Dragonelf, MCG, Amelia, eojt, Yoman, Majin Gojira, Sorciere, Soulfire, Tekkaman Blade, Alexander, James, Kagato II, Imaginary Friend, Forgiven Cuelty, Bolo, Dr Gonzo, BloodDemon, Shadwmage7, Top Quark, Me, rabid squirrel, Fulgo… er… nevermind, Ghostrider, Learning, Darkreader, and Genisis.

You guys kept me motivated, and shaped the plot. Thanks for the help. (And keep those reviews coming!)

The story has been reformatted (I've got Word 2000! Yeah!) which will hopefully make it an easier read.

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Xander sighed. This was bullshit. He'd been sitting in the Bronze for 45 minutes, and no one, repeat NO FUCKING ONE had showed up. Not Buffy, not Willow, not Oz, not Tara, not Amy, not even that hick Riley. He sighed again, glancing at his watch. Ten forty five. "Fuck it" He muttered, pissed off. This was important. Very important. The type of important that changed your life forever. And no one was here. Glancing at his watch again, he moodily thought back to earlier that day.   
  
"Wills!"  
"Yeah?" Willow turned around to see Xander walk into the Uni cafe. Seated around her respectively were Buffy, Riley, Oz, Amy, and Tara, all looking refined and cool in a way only college student could, Willow thought approvingly, as she glanced over them. A clatter brought her attention back to Xander, who had stumbled over a chair, knocking it, and himself to the ground. She sighed as her life long friend quickly picked himself up, told the chair to watch were it was going, and ambled over to their table, plonking himself on a chair next to Willow and Buffy. Willow felt her face heat up, as she could feel the amused stares of the other students in the cafe. "What do you want, Xander?" She gritted out, keeping her head low. "Look, guys, there's something really important I've got to talk to you about..."  
Buffy broke him off "Not here, Xand, we've all got classes soon." Xander looked slightly crestfallen, though unaware that neither Buffy nor Willow had any more classes that day. Feeling slightly guilty, she hurriedly added to her refusal "Later at the Bronze, say tenish?" only slightly mollified, Xander nodded agreement, while stealing half of Willows salad bun, stuffing it into his mouth. Willow cringed at the sight of him munching happily, oblivious to the sniggers and derisive stares from the other tables. "Yeah Xand, we'll meet up with you later. OK?" Xander glanced at Willow in surprise, getting the message, before waving goodbye to the others, and walking out, a slightly confused and deeply thoughtful look on his face.  
  
"Now they've just blown me off! SHIT!" Xander slammed the table in front of him, not noticing some dancers turning around to glare at him. He payed for his drink, and stalked out, a black mood descending on him. They though so little of him, his so-called friends, that they completely ignore him when he asks them for help. Deciding to take a shortcut home, though not really watching were he was going, he crossed the street, entering a cemetery. He walked, deep in thought about the chance that he had been offered. Since his 'friends' were not going to help him decide, he'd do it himself. The thought of asking Giles crossed his mind, but he had never been close to the stuffy Brit, and was not in the mood to ask anyone. He would make this decision alone. A sharp crack of a stick made him pause in his tracks; suddenly realising he was unarmed in a cemetery at night at the hellmouth. His mouth running dry, he managed to whisper "and the Xand-man has done it again, two points for the idiots of America" before the hungry vampire dived out of the bush, roaring, and slammed him into a tree. Xander managed to get in a right hook, which staggered the beast, but had not ran two steps before a slam to the back of his head knocked him, half conscience to the ground. "Ouch!" He managed to spit out, rolling over, facing the vampire as it smirked evilly, and bent down to his neck. Xander, at the last moment managed to kick the vamp between the legs, causing the vamp to reel back clutching his groin, howling to the moon. Xander stood up, and watched amused, as the vampire keeled over, whimpering pathetically. "You know, that hurt me almost as much as it hurt you." Xander winced. He stared at the vampire, who was still writhing on the ground, before grinning "Actually..." Xander was cut off as he was tossed to the ground roughly. Xander turned, expecting to see a vampire, to watch Buffy dust the moaning vamp. Xand sighed in frustration, watching as Buffy turned back to him, recognising who it was. Expecting a hand up, and an apology for both standing him up and knocking him down (Xander paused, replayed that statement in his mind, and suppressed a wry grin) he was completely surprised when Buffy stood over him, hands on hips in what Xander had come to recognise as the 'righteous anger of the slayer' stance, and started chewing him out. "Xander, what were you thinking?! Were you thinking? You of all people should know better than being in a graveyard at night, especially without a cross and a stake? What is your problem?" Looking in complete amazement, as Buffy was practically quivering with anger. "Good to see you too Buff, I'm glad you made it. Want to get a drink? Oh, wait. No, you didn't make it to the Bronze" Xander returned resentfully. Buffy groaned inwardly. She had completely forgotten about their meet up in the Bronze. That afternoon, Riley had taken her to the movies, and by the time they got out, she had a vague feeling she was supposed to be somewhere, incorrectly guessing it was on patrol. Outwardly she remained calm however. "So I forgot. I'm sorry. That doesn't mean you can decide to search the cemeteries for me just too..."  
"Hold on" Xander interrupted "You think I came through here to find you? You're sorely mistaken" Xander clenched his teeth at his unwitting Giles-speak, got up and started to walk off. Buffy was not to be deterred however, and stopped him with a hand on his forearm. "Xander, listen to me" Xander turned and glared. Buffy took a deep breath, gathering her courage, and began "I know we've been growing apart..." Xander snorted, but Buffy continued, hoping to shock him "but the fact is, you endanger yourself and us" Xander stepped back, shocked. Buffy felt her heart break at the look of pained betrayal on Xander's face as she continued relentlessly, squashing her emotions "Xander, you have no skill, and sooner or later you're going to get someone killed. It would be best if you don't try and help" She broke off as Xander, a tear slipping from his face, turned and bolted away from her. "Xander!" She yelled following a few steps before giving up.   
  
She and Willow had talked about Xander all last night, and had concluded that Xander could get hurt if he kept throwing himself into the fray. Buffy shuddered as she remembered that one time the hellmouth had opened, and how thankful she was that Xander had stayed away. It was Willow's idea however, to drive Xander away from them, saying he was useless, ignoring him and the like. Hoping that it was the lesser of two evils. The others ideas had been mixed. Tara Oz, and surprisingly Spike had been against their plan, while Amy and Riley had agreed with them. Unfortunately for the against team, Oz didn't speak unless physically forced too, Tara was to shy to argue, and Spike's reasons were unknown, and most likely not good. She watched Xanders fleeting form, a hint of a smile on her lips. Although it was probably wrong, it felt like a weight had lifted off her shoulders. One of them was at last free.   
  
Xander ran blindly before stopping, gasping beside a mausoleum, silent tears dropping from his face. 'Why didn't they understand?' his anguished mind asked, as he started to breathe deeper. His stomach wrenching in pain, he looked up, to see the moon a blood red. It seemed to talk to him. A sudden calm dropped over him, and he realised his answer to the offer he had been given. The offer the others were too busy to help him with. Xander looked up, mentally opening the doors that had been shown to him, watching as clouds swirled and formed overhead at an unnatural rate, and heard the question once more "Will you lead my army of darkness?"  
Xander gathered his strength and shouted, "YES!" He screamed as a bolt of red lightning struck him, his arms wide in supplication, his clothes instantly burnt to ashes, feeling his body change, strengthen, die, and reform, stronger than humanly possible. He watched in awe as a hard grey substance covered his body, coming from inside of him, felt fear, as the armourous substance moved its way up covering him, leaving only his head without it, shaking his head wildly as he felt the stuff cover it, unable to move his body watching as the world changed colour, showing not only vision, but heat and smell. The electric power died down, and stopped. Xander stood up, feeling strength in his limbs he never felt before. His grey and black armour covered his entire body, the helmet eyes glowing green with power. A tattered, unearthly red cape flew out behind him, flying *through* the trees without touching them, as if a strong though unfelt wind was playing on it. Chains snapped out of the armour, their ends flying twenty feet away, snapping, before retracting into the armour. He held his hands out in front of him, moving them in awe as he watched the armour move as if part of him. His mind shrieked from that possibility, and away from the armour 'LET ME OUT!' his mind screamed and fell to his knees in terror, as the armour silently retracted into him, leaving him cold and naked on the floor. Xander stood up nauseously, testing his feet. They no longer held the great strength, but he could walk. In a daze he began to walk in the direction of his house, before realising he was naked. Xander stopped, and calmed himself "Ok Xand, what now" He muttered to himself  
"Now you die!" Xanders eyes opened wide in shock as two vampires, game faces on, ran out in front of him. Xander stepped back, realising he had nowhere to go. Xander closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Death inevitable, he thought back to all the good times he had, with the gang, in the Bronze, with Cordy. The bad times, much more numerous crept in. The times he'd been beaten by his father, and no one noticed, or cared. The time Cordy left him. The time Jesse had died. And now, the time all his friends had left him. Red hot rage ran though his veins, and he felt power running with it. Knowledge came with it. Smiling evilly, he opened his eyes.  
  
The lead vampire smirked. This kid would be tasty. What the hell had he been thinking, walking around naked? He shrugged. No matter. He stepped forward, before pausing. Something wasn't right. That was confirmed when he saw the kid open his eyes. They had been brown, from the glace he had seen, but now they glowed green. The kid stepped forward. "You got balls kid, but glowy eyes aren't gonna save you!" The vampire smirked, though his confidence was wavering. "No," The kid replied, and his body changed into the hard armour "But this will" he stated, as the helmet covered his head. The vampire, frightened, but refusing to back down, jumped forward, catching a kick to the abdomen, which cracked ribs, and flung him back twenty feet. The second vampire turned tale and ran, but two chains swiftly ran from his body, twisting around his neck, and pulling tight, effectively slicing the head off the vampire, dusting it. The lead vampire was afraid. The thing approached him slowly, revelling in his power, the cape flying high. "Wh-wh-who are you?" The vampire spluttered, whose heart would be thumping if it did in fact beat. The thing ('boy!' thought the vampire) crouched in front of him "I" he stated, watching as his fist protruded multiple blades "am Spawn" driving his fist through the vampires head, the blades destroying it, turning the vampire into dust. Spawn stood, and started to walk towards his home, with a confident stride never before seen on him, as his helmet retreated, revealing his head, his eyes back to their warm brown, and his cape vanishing as if it had never been. Xander smiled. The world had a new hero.  
  
The lit end of the cigarette was dangerously close to the fingers that held it, and a long unbroken ash was at the end of it, but the owner was not concerned about it. He shakily brought the cigarette to his mouth, not noticing its condition, and took a strong pull, burning his fingers. He however did not notice the pain, so shaken from the events in front of him. "Bloody Hell" Spike whispered, finally walking out of his crypt. He looked around, confirming that he didn't in fact have a vision or dream, before glancing off in the direction Spawn had taken. A huge smile broke out on Spike's face "Now this is gonna be fun!" He whooped. He turned, and walked back to his crypt, thinking happy thoughts about all the destruction the two of them could cause. "I always liked that boy," Spike muttered, as he flicked on a 'Passions' rerun.  
  
  
  
  
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Well? What do you think? Please please please please please please please please please please please review!!!  
  



	2. Zeppo no more

Hey ya'll. Heres the next chapter.   
  
Same rules/regs apply as in the other chapter.  
  
Author's note: You may have noticed I left Anya out of this. I like Anya, however, she doesn't fit in the story.  
  
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Buffy was worried. She had not seen Xander for the entire day. Maybe she had been a little harsh on him, she thought, but that was no reason to take off like that, without saying a word to anyone. She looked around angrily. All the Scooby's, except Xander of course, and Riley, who said he 'had better things to do then look around for that loser', were in the Magic Box. Using precious time finding him instead of more productive research. 'Typical Xander.' Buffy thought, conveniently forgetting she was the one who drove him away. Dawn was also worried. Xander was perhaps her best friend among the Scooby's, he and Spike were the only ones who treated her like an equal. Now he was missing. And Buffy didn't care. Sometimes Dawn felt like slapping Buffy, these were the times of course that she forgot Buffy was the Slayer. She snorted, and crept silently out of the room. Maybe Spike knew what was going on.  
  
"Bugger it!" Spike rolled quickly out of the patch of sunlight, looking up as the door to his crypt was opened. He started to grin, but quickly suppressed it, remembering his idea, as he saw who was standing there, uncertainly, at the threshold. "Come in!" He invited with a mock bow. Spike turned his back, opening a bag of blood ('AB' Spike thought happily), sticking a straw through, and taking a sip. "What brings you here?"  
"Spike, I need your help"  
"And why should I help you..." Spike stated, before whirling on the balls of his feet "Spawn?"  
  
Xander was confused. His powers were like nothing he had ever seen before. He had agreed to a deal which he really didn't understand. And he really didn't want to go to Giles. Thus, he was standing inside the home of William the Bloody, asking him for help. After getting home last night without incident, he experimented with his powers inside the relative privacy of his basement abode. He found that he could call and retract his body armour, and helmet armour at will. He found that he could wear clothes, and call his armour, and the armour would cover his clothes without ripping them, which he thought was a very good thing. One strange thing was could launch chains from his armour. He hadn't managed to gain much control over them, however, only able to send them at object in order to crunch them in the chain's powerful 'jaws'. His cloak was another thing entirely. Sometimes it was there, and sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes it was twenty feet long, and rippling as if to a strong wind, sometimes it merely reached his feet, and laid still against him. One thing he was certain of however, it wasn't physical. He had come by this, as it had risen around him like a living thing, passing through his bed, and a lamp, without touching them. To put it simply, Xander Harris was confused. Seeing himself in the mirror, all grey and black armour, red ominous cape, and glowing green eyes was confusing to the Zeppo. He looked like a comic book hero, he thought, amazed. Not wanting to go to the master of weird, he went the only other person who could help him. And for some reason, Spike was calling him Spawn, which added to his confusion, as he remembered calling himself that, and not knowing why.   
  
"I repeat, why should I help you, Spawn?" Spike was enjoying himself. Of course he was going to help the whelp, but there was no need to tell him that. Xander looked uncertain. "Look Spike, I need your help. I've never asked before, and I'll never ask again." Spike shrugged  
"OK"  
Xander was more than a little suspicious about Spike's sudden complacency, but he couldn't worry about that now. "I need answers". Spike shrugged, and melodramatically gestured for him to go ahead. "What am I?" Xander asked firmly. Spike sighed, expelling unnecessary air, before taking a drag on a cigarette. "You are a Hell Spawn" Xander reeled back in horror. Spike realising his mistake hastened to reassure him "No, no, no, not as in Spawn of Hell." Spike paused, thinking as Xander looked up hopefully "Well, actually, yes, as in Spawn of Hell" Xander looked even more horrified, started to move around wildly. Xander was unaware that his eyes had become green and glowing. Spike noticed however, and hurried in his explanation. "You're just a person who's been granted with the strength and power of hell. All for the price of leading some of hell's army when the time comes. Lucky sod." Xander had not calmed, and grabbed Spike by his shirt.  
"Why me?" He asked, not noticing in his agitation that he was holding Spike in the air with one armoured hand. Spike looked on in slight worry he noticed that Xander's body had become armoured, and a green smoke like substance had began trickling from his glowing eyes. "I don't know why he chose you" Spike began "But you accepted his offer." Xander, realising that this was what his reward was, let go of Spike, who landed gracefully on his feet. Xander's armour had, to Spike's relief, retracted. His eyes, however remained smoking green. Xander thought hard about what he should ask next. "How do you know what I am?" Xander asked. Spike shrugged "Back in 1843 I met a feller like you in Prague. He was on about how he was..." Spike's voice deepened dramatically "'chosen to lead the army's of hell in a glorious battle of Armageddon'" Spike shrugged "Silly bugger got himself ripped to pieces in a mob. Me and Dru only just got away." Xander nodded, processing that.  
"Am I evil?"  
Spike grinned "Quick answer? Yes" Xander groaned. "But" Spike said, "The long answer is that your still you." Xander looked even more confused. Spike looked exasperated "I don't get you lot, you've been fighting evil for the past four years and you've got to ask me if you're evil" Xander still looked confused. Spike closed his eyes and silently counted to ten. "Look, mate," Spike said in a gentle, patronising voice, "Do you want to rip the head off the next person you see?" Xander thought for a minute "Er, no?"   
"Well then, you're not evil" Spike announced. Xander nodded in vigorous agreement. His eyes stopped smoking, and returned to brown, as he calmed. He thought again. Spike could see that thinking was a difficult process for Xander. "What did you mean, lead hells army?" Spike shrugged "I'm not sure. I'm just telling you what I've heard. I think it means that when the Apocalypse finally comes, and it will, the slayers won't hold it off forever" Spike warned, pointing his cigarette at Xander sternly before proceeding "You'll be on the winning team." Xander brightened at his apparent 'get out of eternal torment free' card, before a worried frown crossed his face "What happens if the other team wins?" Spike gazed soberly at him. This was a question he had thought about for a long time.   
"You know, I heard a story about a demon with a soul, who once asked a priest what he had to do for forgiveness" Spike took another long drag on his cigarette "the priest said 'just ask'"  
Xander stared at Spike thinking, before nodding. "Who was it?"  
Spike looked at him "Well, it wasn't Angel!" They both burst out laughing at the thought of the souled vampire, looking for forgiveness without thinking of asking. "Okay, I'll see you later then, Spike. Thanks" Spike nodded. 

"Perhaps if I get this chip out, me and you, well not *you*, me and Spawn can go out and have some fun! What do you think?" Xander grinned,   
"I'll think about it Spike."  
  
"Xander!!" A shrill scream rang out in the crypt. Xander turned, confused to the entrance, before being hit by the weight of a relieved teenager. "Oomph!" Was all Xander managed to get out as Dawn attempted to squeeze the life out of him. "Okay Dawnster, you can let me go now." Xander grunted, finding it hard to breathe. Strength seemed to be a gene thing in Summers women, Xander thought dryly as Dawn reluctantly released him. "Whatareyoudoinghere?We'vebeensoworriedwhydidn'tyoucallortellanyonewhereyouweregoing?whyareyouherewithSpike?" Dawn took a deep breath, preparing to start again. Xander, well versed in babble after growing up with Willow, had waited patiently until she took a breath, before cutting in "to answer your questions," Xander took a deep breath "IcametoseeSpikeidin'tthinkihadtocheckineveryfiveminutesandineededtoaskSpikeforsomething." Dawn giggled, before catching herself, and gazed haughtily at Xander, who mimed her expression melodramatically, causing her to burst into a fit of giggles. Xander smiled and walked with Dawn outside. He paused at the door, and glanced back. "Thanks, Spike" Spike nodded, before returning to watching the TV.  
  
Dawn bounced happily by his side as they walked back towards the Magic Box. He grinned at her before looking up. High noon. Xander sighed. Time to face the gang. He just hoped that they didn't piss him off enough for him to go all 'Spawny' on their asses. "Xander?" Xander broke out of his pleasant daydream of ripping Riley's arm off and shoving it up his ass. "Yeah?" Dawn looked up at him "Who's Spawn?"  
  
  
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Dum dum dum dum.  
Is the cat of the bag? Will the Scooby's go ape shit about Xanders (short) disappearance? What's Spike's motivation? Will Xander succumb to the temptation and rip Riley's arm off, and shove it so far up his ass Iowa boy will be able to scratch his nose? Will Xander and Spike go out for a night on the town, painting it (literarily) red? All these questions and more answered, next time on...  
(drum roll)  
The Wrath of Hell!


	3. Break the ties to set you free.

* * *

Standard stuff, same rules apply as in other chapters.  
Many thanks to all of you who reviewed. Remember guys, it's your reviews that shape the story!  
Only a short chapter this time, and I will be away for the weekend, so I probably won't post again until mid next week.   
  
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"Spawn is a demon" Xander answered.  
"What, is he a friend of Spike's?" Dawn asked curiously. Xander shrugged  
"You could say that"   
Dawn looked at Xander suspiciously. She had the feeling he was hiding something "Is he a friend of yours?" Xander hesitated, not wanting to lie, but unable to tell the truth "Not exactly..."  
"Xander!!"  
Xander winced, and put his hands over his ears. Enhanced hearing had its drawbacks. Slightly stunned from the Banshee like call, he stumbled as he entered the Magic Box, and Willow, catching Xander off balance, much as Dawn had before her, hugged Xander. At high velocity. Thus slamming him into the wall. "Wherewereyouohmygodyoursafeiwassoworriedwe'resosorry..." Willow had years more practice at babble then Dawn, and thus could speak with one breath for longer. Xander tuned her out to study the Scoobies faces. Giles was trying to look casual, but Xander could tell he was suppressing a relieved smile Ripper's a big teddy bear Xander looked around in confusion. Who had said that? "wethoughtitwouldbebestifyoudidn'tputyourselfindanger..."   
The voice had seemed to come directly from inside his ear, as if he was wearing earphones. Xander shrugged it off as his imagination. Oz, as usual, was poker faced, but Xander know that meant nothing. Wolf-boy didn't show emotion at the apocalypse, but he cares Xander's eyes narrowed. Who the hell was saying that? Me Xander paused 'who are you?' he thought silently I am Shoilin. Your adviser 'What?' As a general of hell's army, you get an adviser Xander processed that thought 'what do you do?' I give you advise The voice had absolutely no sarcasm in it. Xander looked at Willow, realising she was running out of breath 'Look, I'll talk to you later' Very well, sir "Andi'msosorryXanderbutwethoughtitwasforthebestwehadameetingandeverything..." Willow took a breath. Xander quickly cut in "Well, I'm here now, but I've got to go." Although he could see his life long friend was repentant, the smirk on Riley's face, who had just arrived, along with the dangerous look on Buffy's, was enough for him to feel justified in getting the hell away from them. 'Stupid children, I'll fight evil my own way. What kind of fucking juveniles calls themselves the 'Scooby gang'' Xander thought in disgust, forgetting for the moment, that he in fact named the Scooby's. Willow looked up at Xander in shock "Where are you going, Xander, we need your help." Xander almost laughed out loud at that. Now they needed him. When he had to talk to them, he got the cold shoulder, but when they needed something, it was 'Xander, bestest bud!' Well, he'd had enough of this bullshit. Time to sever the ties.  
  
"Willow, Buffy, guys, theres something I've got to tell you." Xander paused deliberatly, savouring the moment. His moment. All the Scoobies looked up. Oz, unreadable as always, Giles, with a mildly interested look, Amy, Dawn and Tara, with sympathetic gazes, Riley with his 'darned tootin' yankee sonofabitch' look, Willow, with her hurt puppy look, which Xander found most painful, and Buffy with half a 'I'm so sorry Xander' and half a 'I'm going to rip your fucking balls off and play marbles with them' look on her face. He realised that Dawn was still in the room. "Dawn, could you please give us some privacy?" Dawn paused, but seeing the look on Xander's face, simply nodded, and left the room.   
  
"Yes Xander, what is it?" Giles asked, nervously taking his glasses off and wiping them. He knows something's up the gleeful voice whispered in his head Rippers a quick one Xander smiled, silently agreeing. "Guys, I've, uh, thought about this for a while," Xander said, mock uncertainly "And, I've, well, decided something." He shuffled his feet, smoothed back his hair, and looked up to the concerned gazes of all the Scooby's. Good, he had their attention. He fought back a grin. "You know, last night I thought about a few things when I was in the Bronze waiting for my frie... well, some people I know to show." He watched as the faces of the Scooby's, except for Riley turned guilty. He continued "Things like life, Sunnydale, the Scooby's, and I came to an interesting conclusion" Xander paused, watching their faces "I realise, that as a 'Townie', I might be a bit of an embarrassment to you guys to hang out with, you know like how I was with Cordy when we went out" Willow's head dropped in shame "So I thought about possible solutions, the only one I thought would be good for you," Xander continued, pacing "Is remarkably similar to the deal I had with Cord. I'll stay away from you guys during day, or when there's other people around, and save my zany Xander presence for the Magic Box."   
"Xander" Buffy protested, before Xander held up a hand, cutting her off.  
"But, then I remembered what Buffy said, and well, I guess my presence is not needed at night either." He shrugged expansively. Willow looked near tears.

"Xander, I'm sorry, we…" He held a hand up to stop her, before continuing.

"I thought about it, and hey! Buff was right! Apart from me occasionally saving you guys, like at the Masters lair, The Ascension, Halloween, when Buff was in hospital, and that night when the Hellmouth opened when I saved the world, I really have nothing to contribute." The faces of the Scooby's had turned to shame, and mystified interest. Xander paused for a second before continuing, "So I came up with an idea that would be good for all of us." Xander turned to face the group, "You guys..." Xander stated quietly, "can FUCK YOURSELVES!" He roared, paused for a couple of seconds, before turning on his heel, and marching out, leaving a stunned group behind him. Once outside Xander changed his body into Spawn, leaving his head human however, and broke into a inhumanly fast run, feeling the weight of depression, of being the loser, the Zeppo, the useless one fall behind, leaving him elated, and feeling his joy soar.  
  
Back in the Magic Box, nobody had moved. The entire room was silent. Giles slowly put his glasses back on "Ah, what exactly just transpired?"  
  
Spike fell off his chair. But, as it was because he was laughing so hard he would have choked if he breathed, he didn't mind. "No, no way, you didn't say that" He managed to gasp out, pulling himself to a sitting position, tears of laughter running down his face. Xander grinned "Yep, I said that" He had gone to Spike's at nightfall, after wandering around all day, avoiding the Scooby's. Spike snorted, thought about what the looks on their faces would have been, and started helplessly laughing again. "Oh, mate, I just wish I could'a been there to see the looks on their faces." Spike laughed, leaning back onto the chair legs, to weak from laughter to pull himself back into the chair. Xander grinned. Although he had never said it, never would, and always insulted Spike, Xander had grown to like the vampire, feeling a strange affinity to him. They were both outcasts of the group. Both had ex's that left them for wankers. Both hated, though respected, Angel. Both loved Buffy, who in turn, spurned them. Yes, they were very much alike. Spike is your brother in arms Shoilin quietly agreed. "Anyway, Spike, I've got a proposition for you." Spike looked interested "What do you say to a trip to LA" Spike looked confused  
"What do you want to go to LA for? See that bloody poofter and his lot?" Xander shook his head, and sighed. "No, you bleached moron, we can go to LA to fight the good fight." The two demons stared at each other seriously for five seconds, before cracking up. "No, actually, I just want to get away from Dodge for a while, let the iron cool" Spike nodded  
"Good idea, mate, that slayer of yours will probably go off her head. Best to give her some distance." Spike paused, frowning "But why do you want me along?" Xander shrugged  
"I want some company, and I thought 'hey! Who better to live it up with than the Big Bad?" Spike grinned and nodded, "Right then, I could do with a holiday myself." The two grinned at each other in mutual respect. Something they couldn't find from any other Scooby. "Lets go!" Xander said exuberantly, and the two of them left Spike's crypt, and jumping in Xander's Ford Fairlane (Uncle Rory's), not noticing the eye peeping out from under the blankets strewn around in the back seat. They had left a solitary note on the TV.   
  
"Dear Slayer. Me and Droopy have gone on a road trip. Will be back, well, when we're back. Ask Joyce to record Passions. Spike."  
  
  
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	4. The plot thickens...

  
"Er, Buffy?" Willow was cautious. Angry Buffy was dangerous Buffy, and though Buffy wasn't angry at her, she wasn't going to get in the firing path. The gang had searched for Xander, after recovering from their initial shock, but had been unable to find him, and as a last port of call, Tara, Buffy, Giles and Willow had ended up at last in Spike's crypt, and had found the note. Which was crushed in a very pissed off slayers hand. "Who the hell does he think he is!" Buffy finally yelled, causing both Willow and Tara to jump slightly. "And what the hell happened when the hellmouth opened?!" Giles just sighed, and cleaned his glasses. "Buffy, from what you tell me, Xander has been... distant lately, and I'm sure he has enough problems of his own, he may have simply needed some time away." Buffy looked at him derisively,  
"With Spike?" She spat out. Giles simply shrugged. "They seem to relate well, Spike is the only real, um, 'guy' friend Xander has apart from Oz, and he would appear to Xander as one of 'us' so to speak"   
"What about Riley?" Tara asked curious. Buffy shrugged bitterly  
"Xander never liked Riley, in fact, he's hated all my boyfriends." Buffy gave her a quick glance "That's what jealousy does." Willow felt an urge to defend her missing friend, but suppressed it easily, and simply agreed with Buffy. "In any case," Giles interrupted "Xander has left, and we should trust his judgement, and give him time to work out his problems."   
"Xander's problem is that he's a walking disaster" Buffy muttered as they turned to leave the crypt. Willow obediently followed her. 'I'll have to ask Joyce, I don't think Buffy will in her mood, and Spike gets cranky when he misses Passions...' Her musing was cut off by a cheerful voice. "Hey guys, what's going on?" Buffy's head snapped up in annoyance.   
"Dawn! (Author's note: Dawn was originally in the back of the car, but too many people guessed it, so it changed. The evil author has done it again. Mwa ha ha!!!) What are you doing here?" Dawn shrugged  
"Just thought Xander might be here, he was here earlier." Buffy sighed in exasperation, and walked past her sister without saying anything. Dawn rolled her eyes, and turned to follow them out. As she passed the door, she remembered something from earlier. "Giles?" Giles looked at her inquisitively "Do you know a demon called 'Spawn?'" Giles looked blank   
"Not that I can recall offhand, why do you ask?" Dawn shrugged "Oh, Spike and Xander were talking about a demon named Spawn before I walked in on them" Giles nodded, filing that name away. Maybe this Spawn was a new player in Sunnydale...  
  
Ring! Ring!   
"Hello?"  
"Agent Finn?"  
"Who's this?"  
"This is Control Beta"  
"Affirmative Beta, this is Agent Finn"  
"We have new orders for you"  
"Beta, Alpha has been destroyed, Buffy knows about the project, hell, Adam was destroyed..."  
"Agent, Alpha may have been destroyed, but the Initiative still remains. We have made up allot of lost ground at Beta. However, we don't want Miss Summers interfering."  
"What do you want me to do?"   
"Your primary goal is to continue to gain information on the 'Watcher's Council' and monitor the activities of Buffy Summers and her vigilante group. Your second objective is a new objective. Eliminate Buffy Summers."  
"... What? But sir..."  
"That's an order Riley!"  
"Sir, I, I love Buffy! How can I..."  
"Agent Finn, you have your orders!"  
"..."  
"Agent Finn!?"  
"Yes sir, acknowledged. Miss Summers will be eliminated."  
End Call  
  
  
Looks like I'm a do everything myself,  
Maybe I could use some help,  
But hell, you want something done right,  
You gotta do it yourself.  
Maybe life is up and down  
But my life's been what till now?  
I crawled up your butt some how,  
and some things got turned around  
  
I used to be alive, and I felt pathetic  
and now I get it.  
Whats done is done, just leave it alone,   
and don't regret it.  
Sometimes, somethings,  
turn into dumb things,  
and that's when you put your foot down! (Your foot down!)  
  
Why'd I have to go meet somebody like you? (Like you?)  
Why'd you have to go hurt somebody like me? (like me?)  
How could you do someone like that? (Like that?)  
I hope you know I'm never coming back. (Never coming back!)  
- Limp Bizcut  
  
Xander smiled, bobbing his head to the vengeful lyrics of Limp Bizcut. Country may be the music of pain, but it was so... 'I've been screwed. Woe is me' . Limp Bizcut on the other hand was a band he was growing to like, especially after actually listening to the lyrics, which seemed to speak to him. The vengeful lyrics plus the hard rock beat empowered the music. Xander liked that power, the wrath, the 'I've been screwed. You are all going to pay'. Which he noted would have scared him a month ago. Xander glanced over to Spike, who seemed to like the music as well. He stifled a grin. Maybe the whole Billy Idol thing rubbed off on him. Xander, lost in the anger of the music, thought back to a night, he was walking to the magic shop...  
  
Xander walked along the road with a heavy heart. His friends were beginning to push him away. He could see why, though. A Slayer, a werewolf, three witches, a vampire, a commando, a watcher, and a zeppo, Xander thought depressed. How could he get them to let him back in? To realise that fighting the good fight was the only thing he had left? Xander sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. His parents hated him, and let him know it, loud and lengthily, he had a crap job that would be lucky to last a week, he didn't make it to college, and he had no significant other. Slaying was all he had to live for; the only reason he was still alive. Xander pondered, arriving at the Magic Box. He had decided that he should devote more of his time to the slaying. Yep, Xander thought, that should show them that I'm not useless. Entering the shop, Xander looked around curiously. All the Scooby's were present in the back room, Apart from Dawn and Spike, but they weren't Scooby's anyway. Xander noticed that they hadn't seen him yet. There hadn't been a meeting tonight, Xander mused, must be big; they must of forgotten to call me. Xander was about to announce his presence when he caught his name used in the conversation. He smiled, and eavesdropped. "think we should call him?" Willow asked   
"No, definitely not" Buffy's emphatic answer left both Xander and Willow puzzled. "Remember last time?" Xander and Willow both shrugged. What was her point? "Remember what a relief it was, knowing that he wasn't hanging around, about to be killed?" Xander felt like a vampire had just gutted him. "Well, it was better usual, without his being almost ripped apart distracting us" Willows uncertain voice reached Xander, who had slumped silently behind the door, out of sight. "Well I think its a good thing to keep him out of it, that little prick can't fight, all he does is cause us to present openings when we have to save his life." Riley's voice announced. Xander flushed and waited for his friends to defend him. And waited. "Erm, so what type of demon is it going to be?"  
"Well, the main demon is..." Xander stopped listening as they continued through the briefing, silently stood up, feeling his stomach churn, and left.  
  
  
Xander turned back to the road, shaking those bad memories. Things had changed. Xander stiffened, glancing back towards Spike. He could have sworn he'd seen movement in the back seat. "Spike" Xander said in a low voice. Spike glanced over at him "What?" Xander silently pointed to the backseat, mouthing 'someone's there'. Spike looked at him in confusion, but comprehension dawned, and he nodded, shifting into game face. Xander slowly pulled up at the side of the road, putting the engine into neutral, and unbuckling his seatbelt. Spike slowly moved, and grabbed hold of a blanket, and in a quick movement, ripped it off the seat. Xander stared, watching closely, as she sat up with a slowly, moving haltingly, unsurely. She huddled in the seat, wrapping her arms around her knees, and looked up pleadingly at Xander, and he was shocked to see real fear in her eyes. Spike snarled "Who the bloody hell..."   
"Spike" Xander's voice was sharp, though he didn't take his eyes off the girl. He smiled gently "Hello Faith."  
  
  
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Ha! You didn't see that one coming, did ya?  
And the tension mounts!  
  
Since I rarely (If ever)answer any of the questions I set down in this area, I'm not going to bother asking them. Its not like you know the answer. Anyway, I'll catch you next time on:  
  
The Wrath of Hell! 


	5. Love is never having to say sorry.

Bear with me for Faiths awakening, I can't remember the exact details of what happened when she woke up (Hey! it was a year ago!), so I'm making it up as I go along. By the way, this part is INTENSLY SAPPY! You have been warned.  
As you may have noticed, I've changed the classification of this story from Action/Adventure/Romance to Angst/Romance. I really wanted to do an action story, thus the 'Spawn' element, but it isn't happening for some reason. In fact the only major fight I see in the future involves a demon spawn, and an Iowa boy. Though you can count on a few others...  
  
As you may note the name Spawn does not appear in this chapter. This is due to recent union settlements, restricting the number of scenes Spawn can appear in. We apologise for any inconvenience. Thank you.   
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Faith felt fear. An emotion she hadn't felt for a very long time. Upon wakening in a sterile hospital bed, no one around, she had felt the edges of fear surrounding her. She quickly fled from the hospital, and made her way to one of the mayors old hide away, noticing that the city hadn't been, well, destroyed. 'Looks like he failed' she thought in a mixture of disappointment and relief. She entered the small room, noticing that it looked untouched in a long time. A videocassette was on the small coffee table, with her name on the label. She pushed it in the VCR and pressed play. The familiar face of the mayor filled the screen. "Hello Faith" he warmly greeted "If you're watching this, then chances are, I'm dead, and the Ascension failed." Faith felt her legs go weak at that. The mayor paused, as if realising the effect that bombshell would have on the rogue slayer. "With me gone, there really isn't much left for you," He continued, he paused, as Faith tried to process that. The mayor held up a device on the screen "However..." Faith switched off the TV. "No" she whispered, "My life has just begun"   
  
  
"So Faith, what brings you to my car?" Xander asked jokingly, as they cruised down the streets of LA. Faith smiled. After her initial shock, she had quickly realised that neither Xander nor Spike hated her, or want her dead. Spike in fact seemed impressed with her story of badness 'but then,' Faith thought 'he is a vampire'. Faith had been wary of Spike ever since their meeting, which involved him ripping her cover away while in game face. But Xander had assured her he was harmless, at which Spike had taken offence and had then locked them out of the car, not letting them in until Xander had got down on his knees and apologised (Spike had originally only asked Xander to take it back, but Xander's "but your such a cute friendly wittle bunny wunny" hadn't helped matters). She turned her attention back to the two men in the front, who were currently singing along with the song 'Eagle Rock'. She was surprised to realise that they could actually hold a note, albeit not well, but better then some guys she had heard. Xander abruptly stopped singing to address her again "Faith?" Faith looked at him inquiringly, before realising that he was still waiting for an answer. Faith sighed, this wouldn't be easy. "After I woke up, everything was gone. Everything I knew, everyone I had met, had gone." She paused gathering her thoughts, noticing Xander was watching her in the mirror rather than the road, which was dangerous as he was driving, and Spike had swung right around in his chair to stare at her. She continued, "So I ran out of that place, found the mayor's old hide out, found a tape left for me." She laughed bitterly "He said that without him, I was nothing, and suggested I kill myself to get to Buffy." Xander looked at her sympathetically, while Spike just looked shocked. "Do you want to kill Buffy? Or more importantly, me?" Xander asked. Faith was surprised at the lack of fear in Xander's voice; in fact, he sounded curious, Faith thought in amazement. It seemed Xander had grown up. Turning her attention to the question, Faith shook her head slowly. "Buffy... I don't know. I don't want to go and find her and kick her ass, but I don't know." Xander nodded, and Faith continued, "As for you, I never wanted you dead Xander." Xander's eyebrows rose disbelievingly in the mirror "Really," She hastened to assure him "The reason that I, well," her eyes dropped, ashamed. Flashbacks of Xander's throat in her hands, the disbelieving, betrayed look in his eyes.  
"It's OK Faith, that's in the past" Xander reassured her. Faith still couldn't meet his eyes  
"Xander the reason is because you made me feel something, something I was afraid of. You said we had a connection, and," Faith paused, trying to ignore the four eyes burning holes in her skull "I could feel it" Xander inhaled sharply at that admission. "It scared me, you know, because everyone that I loved." She paused for emphasis "Every single one of them, died." Faith felt her eyes prickling, and a tear form, and angrily raised a hand to wipe it. Before it could get there, a warm, gentle hand carefully wiped it away. She looked up in surprise to see Xander's concerned face inches from her own. "You love me?" He asked gently. Unable to talk, Faith simply dropping her face, unable to watch the hate, loathing, and pity come over his face, as she was sure it would. Silent tears ran down her face. Xander paused processing that. He realised for the first time that he didn't hate Faith, he never did, never could, because... of love. 'Back up a minute, Xander, you LOVE Faith? You love FAITH? YOU love Faith?' his subconscious nattered in disbelief and shock. Searching his soul, Xander realised that in fact, he DID love Faith. He gently cupped his hand under Faith's chin, as she silently wept, and raised her face and stared into her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere" He whispered. Faith's walls, the walls that had been build up ever since her parents died came tumbling down. Faith had seen her parents die. Her watcher die. People around her die. But she hadn't cried for any of them. She had grown hard, and thought that she could take anything. That she was beyond love, incapable of giving it, and incapable of receiving it. But seeing Xander, the one person who had cared, and who she cared about, with that simple expression of trust, and the concern and... love on his face, and her emotional barriers came down, and she collapsed, sobbing in his arms, "I'm so sorry..." Faith gasped, still uncontrollably sobbing. Xander reassured her, whispering reassuring nothings in her ear, stroking her long black hair while she clung to him, 19 years of pent up emotion escaping. After a while, the sobs subdued, and she shakily wiped her eyes, while staying in the comfortable security of Xander's arms. "Thanks" She mumbled into his sweater. He chuckled.   
"Glad to be of service" Faith wiggled herself so her back was to Xander, who promptly put his arms around her, and rested his chin on her shoulder. "This is nice" Faith murmured, feeling sleepy in the aftermath of adrenaline and the highest amount of emotion she had ever felt. As well as feeling truly safe for the first time in years. Speaking of safe... Faith sat up abruptly, breaking Xander's grip "Who's driving!" she screamed, heart hammering.   
  
Spike, behind the wheel, gave her a derisive glance, before turning his attention back to the road. "How? When?" Faith looked in confusion to Spike, then to Xander, who was half sitting, half laying on the back seat, with his upper back rseting against the right hand door, and back to Spike. Xander chuckled, and pulled Faith back into his embrace. "When you started to look wiggy, I jumped out of the drivers seat, and Spike, with his speedy vampire reflexes, hopped into it before the car could crash, thus" Xander stated, as Faith snuggled comfortably against his chest "Saving the day, like any good hero!"   
"Sod off" Spike said in good humour, "What are we going to do in LA anyway?" The three looked at each other. "You know, when it was just the two of us, I thought we could go 'pub crawling' and get in a few fights, paint the town red, that sort of thing." Xander paused, and glanced sneakily at Faith, who had her eyes closed. "But now we have to look after a defenceless female..." Xander grinned as Faith's eyes snapped open in indignation "What do you think, Spike? Maybe we'll have to go shopping or something now..." Spike grinned as Faith sat up, outraged "I'll give you 'defenceless female..."   
'god, she's beautiful when she's angry' Xander thought, watching her, entranced, not even hearing what she was saying. "And what the hell does that mean? I mean I'm a slayer! I'd..." Xander cut her off with a kiss, surprising everyone, especially himself. Faith stiffened in surprise, before relaxing, and kissing him back. They slowly pulled each other into a tight embrace, without breaking the kiss. Spike, who had been watching avidly, and had to restrain himself from cheering. "This is better than Passions" He mused. He shook his head, trying to ignore the byplay in the back seat, and, still muttering to himself, wondered what exactly he was doing in LA.   
  
  
"What exactly is Spike doing in LA?"   
Wesley shrugged uncomfortably "Are you quite sure it was him you saw?" Cordelia just looked at him, before smacking him over the head. "Ow! That was uncalled for. I didn't mean to imply that your judgment or sight was impaired..."  
"You can talk, glasses boy" Cordelia muttered, peeved  
"But the fact remains that there are millions of people in LA, any number of whom could pass a bearing resemblance to Spike" Wesley continued, ignoring Cordelia's commentary.   
"Look Wes, I'm not going blind, I saw Spike drive past me last night. If you don't want to believe me, fine. I'll just tell Angel." Cordelia turned on her heel, and marched into Angel's office.  
"Are you sure it was him?"  
"Ahhhh!" Cordelia yelled, not noticing as Angel moved his chair back uncertainly "What is it with you people? Why can't you just believe me?"   
"Well, Cordelia..." Angel began in trepidation, not sure what he was getting in for, but having a sneaking suspicion Wesley had something to do with it. "It's not that I don't trust you..."  
"You don't trust me?" Cordelia echoed in disbelief and growing outrage "I'm vision girl here, I can't believe you don't trust me, I mean, the Powers that Be trust me, but oh no, Mister 'I'm three hundred..."  
"Two hundred and forty four and that's not what I..."   
"Whatever, 'I don't trust these mere humans, especially the women, why back in my day..." Angel dropped his head on his desk with an audible 'thump', wondering idly if he could knock himself out. "Cordelia," Angel finally cut her off. Cordelia quietened, but kept glaring at the souled vampire. "You can ring Giles, and see if Spike's left town, OK?" Cordelia was only slightly mollified,  
"I will" She announced, before realising... "Hey, why do I have to confirm it, don't you trust me?" Angel groaned as Cordelia's eyes brightened.  
  
  
Riley cursed. Who knew cars were so complicated? He should have listened when Uncle Joe tried to teach him about mechanics. But oh, no. He had to be concentrating on Mary's legs. Riley sighed in frustration, staring up at the jumble of steel that was the underneath of Buffy's car. At least Uncle Joe never caught him staring at his daughter... "Aha!" Riley exclaimed victoriously. The brake line. Or something. Riley wasn't sure what it was called. All he knew was that if he cut it, the brakes would stop working, leading to a hopefully fatal accident. Riley grinned, and cut the line quickly, dropping the pliers, and stared triumphantly up at the cut line. "What cha doing?" Riley, shocked, tried to sit up. Forgetting he was under a car "Holy fucking shit!" he cursed falling back down, holding is aching head. "Sorry!" Buffy apologised, cringing, as Riley lay back, breathing deeply. Riley counted to ten, repressing the urge to backhand Buffy. It would accomplish nothing. She would be dead soon, anyway. Slightly shocked at the cold way he thought that, he answered "It's okay Buff" He weakly grinned "Just checking the car over for problems."  
Buffy nodded happily, glad her boyfriend knew all about cars and stuff. Buffy tried to look interested, tried to BE interested, and forget the feeling of guilt about - 'don't even think the name' her mind cautioned. Buffy looked up, trying to see anything interesting, her gaze finally resting on a broken cable. "What's this?" She frowned. "Ah, that's the cable for the brakes." Riley grudgingly admitted. "Is that right?" Riley was of two minds. Should he tell the truth, and say he was about to fix it, and get her at a later date? Or try and bluff his way out of it. 'No' he though, 'If she survives, she'll know it was me, and there'll be some major Riley kicking action. "No" He admitted. "It's broken, I was about to fix it." Buffy smiled at him in relief 'lucky he was here, might of had a nasty accident otherwise'. Riley was inwardly cursing. He slid out from under the car. "Where are you going?" Buffy asked. Riley pointed towards the Magic Box  
"I've gotta get some tools to fix it with" Buffy nodded. Riley hesitated, then added "Don't use the car until I fix it, OK?" Buffy nodded again, waved goodbye, and walked off. 'I'll get you Buffy! If its the last thing I ever do!' Riley thought, then stopped, running over his inner monologue in disbelief 'Wow, can you say melodramatic?' shaking his head, he walked off.   
  
'Riley is the greatest boyfriend ever!' Buffy thought happily, before her feeling turned to sadness 'I don't know why my friends don't see that..." Although they never said anything, Buffy could tell Willow and Tara didn't like Riley. It was in the way they politely refused anything he offered them, be it an apple, to tickets to a concert. Giles called Riley 'that bloody commando' when he thought no one could hear him, Spike, well, Spike hated everyone, Oz and Amy stayed away from him, and Xander never made a secret of the fact that he didn't like Riley. Buffy shook her head. Xander's running away had effected the entire group. The only member of the group who lightened the seriousness of the group had left, and they had felt it. Meetings were lifeless. Patrols nerve racking. Worst of all, Scooby get togethers had become uncomfortable, as long silences, usually broken with Xander-wit, were left to run. They had relied on Xander more then they realised, and his leaving had taken the heart out of the group. Buffy sighed, realising for the first time maybe Xander was completely justified for what he said. Maybe it was them who were at fault, not Xander. Buffy's musings were interrupted be her cell phone ringing. She pulled it out of her bag, and checked the number. Giles.   
  
"Yes?"   
"Buffy? Is that you?"  
"No, this is the Big Vinny's Undertakers, 'When they croak, you won't go broke', how may I help you?"  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I seem to have the wrong..."  
"Giles, its Buffy."  
"Oh, yes. Very amusing."  
"What's up?"  
"Well, I have two pieces of news for you, would you like the good first, or the not so good?"  
"Give me the good stuff Giles"  
"Spike has been seen in LA"  
"LA? I thought road trip was like, I don't know, a road trip? Not a drive to the nearest city?"  
"Quite, one would imagine. Spike was seen by Cordelia, ah, 'cruising'"  
"Is she sure that's who she saw? Ha, try and say that three times fast"  
"Yes, believe me, she's very certain. Although she seems to have some issues... what?"  
"... Forget it Giles, what's the bad news"  
"Not bad, as such, just... not good."  
"Okay, what the not good news?"  
"Faith has disappeared"  
"... what?"  
"It would appear Faith has woken"  
"Do they know where she is?"  
"No. She attacked an orderly, who is now in critical condition, and escaped. Buffy, it is imperative that you find her, her current state of mind..."  
"Don't worry, I'll find her. Then I'll kill her."  
"Buffy, wait, don't..."  
end call  
  
  
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Well, what do you think? Ducks rotten tomato Hey! I didn't see the Faith/Xander ship either! Don't blame me, Blame Canada! (South Park's "Blame Canada" song starts for a cheap laugh)   
Sorry about the delay, just haven't felt like writing. The next chapter may not be in a while, so hang on!   
  
As always, reviews are much appreciated. Remember, that its your reviews that shape the story.  
  
I'll see you next time on...  
The Wrath of Hell!


	6. Deep Thoughts

Hello, all. This is the next instalment. Standard rules apply.  
  
Please note; Spawn will not appear in this chapter due to a break in negotiations with the Unions. Please direct any related comments to the 'Marvel Superhero Union'.  
  
I've been watching season 1 and 2 Buffy (I have them on DVD. Go me!) and I've cracked up laughing many times. So, to honour that, I'm going to share a quote with you each chapter. See if you can guess the episode.  
  
(Angelous shows Acathla to Dru and Spike.)  
Spike: It's a big rock.  
Spike: (Pauses) I can't wait to tell my friends. They don't have a rock this big.  
  
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"Hey!"  
"What?"  
"You stood on my foot, wanker!"  
"No I didn't."  
"Yes you bloody well did, Harris, I saw you."  
"How could you? You're lying on the floor!"  
"...So?"  
"So how could you see who stood on your foot?"  
"Obviously, if I'm closer to the floor, I'm also closer to my feet."  
"Spike, I didn't jump on your foot."  
"Ha! I never said someone jumped on my foot! It must have been you!"  
Xander sighed in exasperation. Spike was drunk. Extremely drunk. Xander knew that he hadn't stood on Spike's foot, because all seven of his feet were safely on the ceiling. Xander paused, and counted his feet. One, two, five, seven. Xander shook his head. For some reason that didn't seem right. He turned slowly to his right, making sure that his head didn't fall off his neck. "Faith?" Faith looked up from her position face down on the one table remaining.   
"Yeah?"  
"How many feet do I have?"  
Faith paused, in deep thought, and silently ticked off her fingers.  
"Three" She said, holding up eight fingers. Xander paused processing that. 'Oh, well' he thought, 'three or seven, that's definitely enough to kick that elephant's ass.' The elephant in question had been staring at Xander, flipping him the bird with it's pink trunk. Xander growled at it, and it growled back, showing large canine teeth. 'That's funny' Xander thought, observing the elephant, who was now weaving in a boxing stance facing him, stumbling slightly, 'I didn't know that elephants could box.' Xander watched in confusion as the elephant swayed on its feet, obviously inhibrated, 'how would they manage a combination with only one trunk?' Xander mused watching as the elephant finally fell sideways to the floor. Xander was surprised to see, however that instead of just the elephant toppling, the entire room fell to the side. 'This is new' he thought, trying to move in this now sideways room. It took Xander four (seven, three, whatever) tries before he realised that the room hadn't fallen over, HE HAD. Xander paused to absorb this remarkable information. Xander managed to turn to see that he was on the same level as his buddies, Spike, who was still complaining about people standing on his foot ('It must have been the elephant' Xander suddenly realised) and Faith, who, in trying to find more fingers on her right hand to count, had rolled off the table, onto the floor beside him. Xander decided that it was probably safer down here with his vamp and slayer friends to back him up against that fucking elephant. Even if it did have pink fur.  
  
"Angel?"   
"Yes Cordy?" Cordelia looked at Angel, annoyed.  
"How many more dumps are we going into?" Angel just looked at Cordy, and kept walking, looking for the next sleazy bar. The LA night was crisp, a fresh breeze blowing. It didn't bother Angel, however, who as usual wore a long leather coat, and Cordy had thought to wear a thick woolly jumper. They were in a bad part of town, the sort of area where the dangerous lived. Spike's kind of place. Knowing Spike, he would hit as many of the bars as possible, cause as much damage as possible, and then pass out drunk. "Cause," Cordy continued, "its not that I don't appreciate the fact that you've set aside this special time to humiliate me in public, but I actually have plans."  
Angel sighed "Cordy, if Spike's in LA then he's up to no good. Remember last time?" Cordelia shrugged  
"Your point would be..." Angel spotted another bar, and grateful for the distraction, walked inside. And stopped in the door, mouth dropping. "I don't know what your problem is, Angel, but I bet it's really hard to pronounce..." Cordy shut up abruptly as she entered the room. "Well," Cordy stated brightly "Looks like someone didn't do their spring cleaning" The room was devastated. Not one piece of furniture remained whole. The bar was shattered. Broken glass was liberally scattered over the area. A strong smell of sweat, alcohol, smoke, and blood covered the room. "Ew, Angel, why are you taking me to these places? What did I ever do you?"   
"Cordy" Cordy shut up. Angel examined the place, noticing that although the scent of blood was in the air, death was not. Strange. Something to ask Spike when he found him. Angel nodded. "Spike's been here, he shouldn't be far" Angel turned and walked towards the door. Cordy, however remained where she was. Angel turned "Cordy? Getting a liking of this place?" Cordy turned "Please. I was just wondering..."  
"That's different" Angel muttered under his breath  
"... How did Spike do this?" Angel looked at her disbelievingly.  
"Spike is a vampire" Angel explained slowly, as if to a child "Vampires like to break stuff"   
"Really? Well, Einstein, wasn't Spike supposed to be harmless?" Angel paused. That was the reports that he heard from Sunnydale, something about soldiers putting a chip in his head, or something. Angel shrugged. "Obviously he's not" Like a chip was going to hold back Spike for long. Angel walked out, closely followed by Cordelia, to find the next bar. "Tell me again why Wesley isn't here?"   
Angel shrugged, walking along the street, noticing idly that a bunch of very battered guys were walking - stumbling down the street away from another bar. "Giles asked him to look up some stuff from a book in that shop here" Angel replied, crossing the road quickly, towards the guys. He heard Cordy sigh behind him, but payed it no attention. The guys were rough looking, all leather, tattoos, hair, knuckledusters, and body piercing. They were also covered in bruises, blood, and had broken and shattered bones. "What happened?" Angel asked a six foot nine biker. The guy shook his head, dazed "Three of them. Can you fucking believe it?! Two guys and a fucking girl took apart the whole fucking gang. Jesus, Death's Wings are never gonna hold their heads up in this burg if it ever gets out." The tough biker stumbled slightly before recovering his balance, and attempted to mount a gleaming Harley, but lost balance, crashing both him and the bike onto the asphalt. "Wow" Cordelia whispered "There's gotta be forty guys here" All of them where in sorry condition. Angel walked slowly towards the bar.  
  
"Xander!" Xander opened his eyes with difficulty  
"Faith?"  
"Xander, I think a vampire coming towards us" Xander looked around. He saw the trashed bar, Faith, who was lying next to him, and Spike, snoring a couple of feet away from them. Even that elephant asshole had gone.  
"Nope, just Spike" Xander concluded.  
Faith attempted to sit up, failing. "Really, I mean, my slayer sense..."  
"Faith" Xander admonished sternly, "Go back to sleep" Faith looked at him before grinning, and lying back down on the floor next to him, putting an arm across his body, and burrowing her face in his neck. Xander closed his eyes, and drifted off, as Angel and Cordelia walked carefully into the room. "He really did a number on this place" Angel murmured "Did LA a favour" Cordelia sniffed disdainfully. Angel glanced over the room, noticing that Spike had missed a table. He was about to turn around and walk out, when movement in the rubble caught his eye. Carefully negotiating the junk, he made his way to the hand he could see sticking above what appeared to be the remains of a pool table. Angel cautiously peered over the top to see the familiar bleached blond snoring peacefully, unaware of the carnage surrounding him. Angel shook his head. What would he do with Spike. Angel picked up a broken chair leg off the ground, and held it poised over Spike's heart. He hesitated, then lowered the makeshift stake with a sigh. Spike owed him big time for this. Angel carefully raised the motionless body, and hoisted it on his shoulder. "Cordelia, let's go!"  
"Angel" The tone of Cordelia voice stopped Angel in his tracks.   
"What is it?" He asked. Cordelia was staring at something on the ground a few feet away, hidden from his view by half of a table. Angel walked to Cordelia, holding Spike over his shoulder. Cordelia wordlessly pointed towards the floor, and Angel nearly dropped Spike "Someone help! Timmy's down the well!" Spike murmured in his sleep. Angel payed no attention however, taking in the sight of Xander and Faith snuggled up together on the floor. "Well, that's not what I expected" Angel murmured.  
  
  
"Buffy, this is a bad idea."   
Buffy looked across at Willow, who was nervously sitting next to her. "Why do you say that?" Willow cleared her throat nervously, looking back at Tara, who smiled at her for support. "Xander left to get a bit of space to think" She said.   
"Your point would be?" Buffy snapped back  
"h, h, Heading to LA at one hundred miles an hour isn't g, giving Xander space" Tara advised timidly. Buffy ignored her. They were on the highway headed towards LA at, as Tara had said, one hundred miles an hour. With Buffy driving. In a bad mood. Tara and Willow unconsciously tightened their seatbelts as Buffy swerved around a corner. Riley, asleep in the back next to Tara, tipped from the cars turn, leaving him with his head resting on Tara's shoulder, who was to polite to push it off. She stiffened as Riley groaned in his sleep, turning his face down into her breasts. "Willow!" She hissed as loud as she dared. Willow turned, and saw the predicament Tara was in, and protective of her girlfriend, reached back grabbing Riley by the hair, and yanked his head back viciously against his side window, where it landed with a loud bump. But, a credit to bumpkins everywhere, Riley remained asleep, dreaming of country fairs, and prime cattle. Tara shot Willow a thankful look, and returned to her careful scrutiny of the road. LA was fast approaching on the horizon.


	7. The Morning After

For those of you who have no idea what Spike was mumbling about in the last chapter, he was referring to a situation which is apparently happened in 'Passions'. I don't watch Passions, thus asked a niece what was happening in it. Three hours later, I managed to shut her up, and put in a single line in the story. Her going on about that stupid show (No offence to Passions fans) seemed sad, until I realised that I would sound the same if any one asked me what was happening in 'Buffy'.  
  
  
  
Buffy: We thought you might wanna talk  
Willow: You know, yesterday, with the spiders?  
Windel: I don't know what to say about that  
Xander: You saw 200 insects. You gonzoed. Anybody would have.  
Windel: They're not insects. They're arachnids  
Xander: They're from the Middle East?  
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At home, drawing pictures of mountain tops with him on top   
Lemin yellow sun, arms raised in a V   
And the dead lay in pools of maroon below   
Daddy didn't give attention   
Oh, to the fact that mommy didn't care   
King Jeremy the wicked...oh, ruled his world...   
Jeremy spoke in class today... (2x)   
  
Clearly I remember pickin' on the boy   
Seemed a harmless little fuck   
Ooh, but we unleashed a lion...   
Gnashed his teeth and bit the recess lady's breast...   
How can I forget?   
And he hit me with a surprise left   
My jaw left hurtin'...ooh, dropped wide open   
Just like the day...oh, like the day I heard   
  
Daddy didn't give affection, no...   
And the boy was something that mommy wouldn't wear   
King Jeremy the wicked...oh, ruled his world   
Jeremy spoke in class today... (3x)   
Woo... (14x)   
Try to forget this...try to forget this...   
Try to erase this...try to erase this...   
From the blackboard...   
  
Jeremy spoke in class today... (2x)   
Jeremy spoke in, spoke in... (2x)   
Jeremy spoke in class today...   
Woo... (29x)   
Woooooohhh...spoke in, spoke in...   
Woooooohhh...uh huh, uh huh...   
  
-Pearl Jam  
  
Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.  
Xander crushed his eyes shut, and tried not to move. He scowled, then winced as the asshole with the sledge hammer took another crack. Xander lay still. It seemed that every time he moved, or especially tried to open his eyes, some guy with a sledge smacked him over the head. Xander lay, with a dull throb in his head, as still as he could. 'Where am I?' he wondered. The events of last night were blurry. He remembered Spike singing a rather dirty version of 'God Save the Queen' while throwing a bikie through a juke box, Faith winking coyly at him, while breaking the arm of some guy who was trying to gut her with a switch blade, the bloodied face of a gangster inches from his own, and finally an incredibly obnoxious... elephant? Xander was, to say the least, confused. 'What the FUCK is going on?' he agonised, not risking opening his eyes. Sir, judging from your... festivities last night, I would believe that you are hung over the whispery voice analysed I don't know where you are, you were last conscience in the lower west end of LA (Author's note: I've never been to LA, let alone the US so I have no idea of the geography: Locations are all guess work!) Xander stifled a groan as he opened his eyes. It seemed that Shoilin was right. At least, there wasn't any guy with a hammer that Xander could see 'either that or the little shit's run off' Xander thought. Looking around, Xander decided that he didn't know where he was. It certainly wasn't the bar he had passed out in. The room was smallish, with a window covered by a heavy curtain, a single bed, upon which he was lying, and a small side table next to him. The floor was hardwood, no carpet, there was no wardrobe or cupboards, and the only door was opposite where he lay. Xander sat up quickly, regretting it instantly as he realised that the guy with the sledge was inside his head, and was having a gay old time. 'Hey, I'm a demon, right?' Xander mused More or less 'Well, don't I have, like, instant hang over cure?' Shoilin seemed to pause. Well, if you were to revert to Spawn, the alcohol in your body would be eliminated, along with the headaches. You'll still need to drink something though Xander started to nod, before stopping in realisation, and instantly changed into his armoured self. The pain and fog in his head cleared immediately. 'Hell yeah! The Xand-Man has found the cure to hang overs!' Xander cheered. A snort sounded within his head. Xander ignored it, and cautiously got to his feet. He moved silently to the door, twisting the handle gently and opening it. The door opened inwards, so Xander opened it a few inches, and strained with his enhanced hearing.   
"...Too bloody right." 'Spike' Xander thought with a hint of relief.  
"Well, why bring Xander along? And Faith?" Xander wondered why that voice sounded familiar, and leant closer to the door.  
"I didn't bring the lad, he brought me'  
"Spike..." 'Who is that?' Xander wondered in frustration.  
"I'm serious, Angel..." 'Of all the fucking people in LA, it had to be Dead Boy' Xander moaned in realisation, banging his head against the wall with a light thump.  
"The kid said he wanted to get away from Sunnyhell, asked me to come along for the ride. Poor bloke got a raw deal if you ask me, those bloody Scooby's kicked him out."  
A door banged, and Xander heard the sound of footsteps   
"Angel, I need your help to find... Spike?"   
"Slayer! Couldn't live without me, huh?" 'Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit Xander sat down, unable to believe his bad luck. Buffy was on the scene. This was getting better and better. Xander slowly stood up and walked back to the bed. It was time to do some heavy thinking, which was not Xander's strong point. But hey! Maybe Shoilin could help Me? 'Yep' What could I possibly do? Xander snorted 'You are an adviser, aren't   
you?' Well, yeah Shoilin sounded uncertain. 'So, advise' Xander waited, growing nervous as the muffled conversation ceased, and footsteps approached the door. 'Shoilin?' Xander thought frantically as the door handle began to turn 'A little help?' Bluff Shoilin advised finally 'Bluff!?' Trust me 'Trust me, he says', Xander thought dryly, 'he's a voice in my head that comes from hell and he wants me to trust him.' He could say the devil really did make him do it, Xander realised with a half smirk, which was wiped off his face as the door swung open, and Angel, closely followed by Buffy, Spike, and Riley. Expecting an argument, Xander was more than slightly surprised when Buffy, and Angel took up combat stances, and Riley pulled out a gun. Xander took a step back, raising his hands placatingly "Whoa, guys! Relax, look, maybe taking..."  
"Spawn" Spike cut him off, with enough emphasis on the word to draw a curious glance from Angel "What are you doing here?"  
'Oh, shit' Thought Xander with shock, realising that he was still Spawn. The situation was looking grim. He couldn't demask, without Buffy going ape shit, and he couldn't just walk out of there, being in a room that Xander was supposed to be in. 'Hell! They probably thought I killed him! Me!' Xander realised in horror, "Who are you, and what have you done to Xander?" Buffy demanded. Xander was touched by the concern in her voice, realising that maybe she did, in fact, care. He was however more worried about the menace in her voice, her obvious want to kick around tender parts of Spawn's body. 'What do I do now?' Xander thought desperately. Repeat what I say Shoilin commanded. Xander, shell shocked, simply agreed, and parroted Shoilin's words, not really paying attention to what he was saying. "I am Spawn. Commander of Hell's Army, Sword of Death, Judge of the Righteous." Xander was impressed by that title. 'I'll have to write that down' he thought. "Are we supposed to be impressed?" Angel asked tersely. Xander suppressed a childish urge to stick his tongue out at Angel, realising with a shudder that he would only lick the inside of his demon mask. "Angelous, I believe you spent a few happy centuries of torture in my domain" Xander said. 'Wow!' Xander thought enthusiastically, as Angel growled, shifting into game face, and Spike spluttered, smothering a laugh, which turned into a coughing fit when Buffy glared at him. 'That was really cool!' Angel took a step forward with murder in his eye, before Buffy and Spike held him back 'Apart from the whole 'Deadboy wanting to kill me, thing' Xander added nervously. Quit your babbling, and say as I say Xander sighed, and once again listened for Shoilin's instructions. "Your... friend, Xander is... not with us anymore." Three of the occupants in the room gasped at that revelation, while Spike had another coughing fit, and Riley sniffed, leaning against the door. 'Dude, what the hell are you doing?' Xander thought frantically, as Buffy and Angel moved forward grimly 'You trying to get me killed?'  
"If you hurt him..." Buffy began, before Xander cut her off with a wave of his hand. "He is safe. I am here to give you a warning." Angel and Buffy backed off a bit, while Riley safetied and holstered his pistol. "What is it" Spike asked curiously  
"As I said, I am the Commander of Hell's..."  
"Army, Sword of Death, blah blah blah, do you have a point?" Buffy asked.  
Xander paused, before continuing "I was sent here" Buffy looked unimpressed   
"You were sent to LA? Got a part in a movie?"  
"To Earth, fool. I was sent to Earth." Xander finished sharply. Buffy still looked unimpressed, though realisation was dawning on the faces of the vampires. "If that's supposed to mean something, could you clue me in? Cause the whole 'mysterious guy' has been done..."  
"Buffy" Angel interrupted, a slight fearful edge in his voice. "Why would the leader of an army be sent somewhere?"   
"To prepare for an..." Buffy trailed off, realisation and horror dawning. "Armageddon" Spike whispered, concern on his face. The two vampires and the slayer looked at each other with concern, and worry on their face. "I am the catalyst" Xander softly confirmed.   
  
Riley was still clueless. "Hey, guys, what's going on," He asked, scratching his head, and drawing his pistol slowly "If he's the leader of hell, maybe I should shoot him?" He asked, drawing a bead, and backing away slowly towards the door. Maybe if he annoyed this 'Spawn' guy, and got the hell out of there, he would kill two vampires, and Buffy, thus taking care of his, Riley's problems. Riley grinned, and drew a bead on Spawn's chest. Hopefully that armour could take a bullet shot, but if not, well, that was one less demon to worry about.  
  
Xander was freaking 'What the fuck are you talking about!' He mentally shouted 'I didn't sign on to destroy the world! And what's up with calling me a cow?!' Shoilin sighed in Xander's head. There is no Armageddon. Well, not yet, anyway, I said that to but you some time, and... Shoilin was cut off by a loud gunshot. Xander felt a like Buffy had just hit him in the chest, and found himself sprawling back against the side table, which smashed apart from impact, and slid down the wall. Xander glanced down, to see a hole the width of his finger on his chest plate, with a green glow emanating from it, and a trickle of green blood going down. As Xander watched, the hole slowly closed, and the pain faded to nothing. 'Holy Shit! Who da man!' Xander thought ecstatically and stood up with a flourish, in a combat pose. Xander looked to see Buffy and Angel looking slightly concerned at him, while Spike's eyes had relief that he was okay. Xander moved forward, watching amused as Buffy and Angel retreated slowly to the doorway. "Your weak American bullets have no effect on me" Xander stated in a weak Cartman impersonation (Author's note: Nope, don't own South Park, either.) "What do you want?" Buffy asked, a hint of respect in her voice. "I want..." Xander paused "Out of here" Spawn's cape appeared with a snap, covering most of the room, and chains whipped out of his body, clamping into either side of the window. As the others watched, dumb folded, Spawn threw himself at the window, using him chains like a slingshot, launching him through the curtain, tangling him in it, smashing through the glass and out into the daylight. "Well," Buffy said finally, "I think I'd better talk to Giles." The three turned, about to leave the room, when a fourth figure entered. "Hey, guys, what's going on?"   
  
Buffy gasped in shock, while Angel looked on worriedly. "Faith." Buffy muttered viciously, swinging a hard right. Buffy wasn't surprised to see that her punch was blocked. She was surprised to see that it was Spike that blocked her. "Now look here..." Spike began, but was cut off by Buffy kicking him to the face. Spike staggered back, while Angel looked on in shock, and Faith stepped back, timidly. "Now look here, slayer..." Spike was again cut off by Buffy, this time by a punch to the face. Spike growled, pissed off "Right, that's it" Buffy swung at Spike, who blocked, and sucker punched Buffy, knocking her back, though shocking her more than hurting her. "But your chip..." Buffy stated, fear growing in her stomach. Spike laughed "Old news. You didn't really think it would stop the Big Bad, did you?" Buffy shaped up, but Spike, to the surprise of Angel and Buffy, simply stepped back. "I've got no quarrel with you, slayer." Spike stated, "Well, I do, but Xander would stake me if I killed you." Spike reconsidered. "Then what is this about?" Buffy asked guardedly. Spike stepped in front of Faith, who was standing, eyes lowered, hands together. "This is about protecting my friends" Spike admitted firmly. Buffy and Angel stood shocked, as Faith looked up, and smiled gratefully at Spike, as they both walked out of the room, closing the door behind them, leaving Buffy and Angel standing, stunned. Five minutes past before either of them moved. "Could this day get any weirder?" Buffy asked Angel, who slowly shook his head "I really don't think..." Angel was cut off by the door banging open, and an excited Wesley and Cordelia rushing in. "Angel, guess what?!" Cordelia asked joyfully.  
"Cordelia, I don't have time for games..."  
"Wes and I are getting married! Oh, hi Buffy! What did your hair ever do to you?" Buffy had, however, for the first time in her life, fainted.  
  
Xander managed to pull the curtain out of his face to realise that he was flying! "Whoooaaaa!" He shouted, as he passed high-rise buildings, missing them narrowly, swerving around the corners. He grinned at the adrenaline rush that heightened the sensation, and guided himself past buildings as past as he could. Whatever else, being bad was fun.  
  
Pedestrians looked up in wonder at the sight of the figure passing overhead. "What the fuck is that?" An off-duty cop asked. A guy walking past looked up from behind a newspaper.   
"Some new kind of stunt glider probably" He said, in a bored voice. The cop looked slightly deflated. "Yeah, you're probably right" The second guy waited until the cop was out of earshot, before reaching into a pocket, and pulling out a cell phone. Pressing one on the speed dial, he waited until the phone was answered.  
"Wolfram and Hart, how can I direct your call?"  
"This is Lindsey. I have some news for the senior partners."  
  
The cop walked along the sidewalk, idly wondering about the amount of laws broken by the glider. IF it was a glider. Which it probably wasn't. She grabbed her own cell phone, and punched in a number.  
"Angel's Investigations, we help the helpless, there's no one here right now, but please leave your name and number, and we'll get back to you"  
"Angel, this is Kate. We have to talk."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
What do you think? Review please.  
  
Sorry about the loooooooooooooooooooooooooooong wait, its not my fault! I had to renegotiate a contract with 'Marvel Superhero Union' for   
T W O W E E K S ! to get Spawn to appear in this chapter! See the amount of trouble I will go to for your viewing pleasure?  
  
Anyway, the lines are drawn, you should expect things to heat up rather quickly in the next few chapters. Stay tuned, folks.


	8. Interlude: Mushy Time.

Author's Note: Again, sorry for the wait. Damn Democratic laws.   
  
You may note that the story is getting increasingly... (What's the word? Romantic? Tender? No... Ah!) Sappy. If you don't like it... to bad! I'm in a sappy mood, what with Buffy dieing in the Gift and all... sob Like I said, this chapter doesn't really further the plot, but I guess it'll get me back into the writing mood, and it'll cheer you up (hopefully).  
  
  
Willow:(To Xander, Oz, and Cordy, about Buffy and Scott) She can impress him with that thing cute half smile thing that she does with her mouth.  
  
Willow:(To Buffy) You know? That thing you do with your mouth that boys like?  
(Buffy, glares at Willow)  
  
Willow: Oh! No! Not THAT thing, I mean the half smile thing, that... I'll be quiet now.  
  
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Lindsey walked forward, nerve wracked. He was normally in control, and rather unflappable, but it wasn't everyday one got to meet the senior partners. He was in a hall inside the Wolfram and Hart building, the top floor. As far as he knew, no one other than Herman, the Senior Partners associate, had ever been up here. Guards were noticeably absent. That was more frightening that if the hall had been bristling with them. Obviously, the Senior Partners could take care of themselves. He slowed as he reached the giant double doors, and after a slight pause, knocked firmly. "Enter" A whispery voice floated to him, and after one last look around, he pushed open the door, and entered the office of the Senior Partners.  
  
'Okay, tell me again why was I flying?' Xander had been asking the same question for the past ten minutes... Because you wanted to ...and received the same answer. It was getting frustrating. Very. If frustration was water, then Xander's cup runneth over. He had alighted in different part of LA, not that that made much difference, as he didn't know where his starting point was, and had basically wandered around. He had been walking for about two hours, and didn't seem to be getting anywhere. All the buildings looked the same, as did the people "Give me Sunydale, any day" he muttered "Where a quick sprint will take you from one side of the town to the other." He sighed and wandered on. At least his new demon powered body didn't get tired as fast as his old fashioned one. "I think you're being a bit harsh" A familiar voice caused him to spin around quickly on his heel (Surprising himself by not falling over, or even stumbling 'Demon body's rule!' he though ecstatically) "Faith!" He stated in surprise, watching the dark haired slayer walk towards him. "Hey, Xand. Where you been?" She asked walking up to him, with a dangerous sexy smile on her face. Faith had changed her attire, from the 'I've just got out of a coma and am helpless. Help me.' to her more usual 'I'm a bad ass sexy predator. Fear me.' And the way she was stalking towards Xander, who was uncomfortably reminded of a documentary he had watched on cable once, of a sleek panther stalking towards its prey, was making him feel very ill at ease. 'Not much babe, just checking the sights to see if I could find perfection, and I think my search is over' is what Xander meant to say, but what came out was more like "Er uhgdsalwe." He swallowed difficultly, as Faith stepped close to him, trying to remain in control. Her scent, a mixture of light musk perfume, strawberry shampoo, and pure woman was wafting to Xander. All of which was mixing to make him wish his demon self came equipped with a cold shower function. Faith seemed to realise his trouble, and smirked, running a hand gently across his stomach, teasing the tensed muscles, before running it across his back, in a swift move, pulled him to her. "Hey Xand?" She asked innocently, discretely rubbing her leg along the inside of his calf "I know coming to LA and seeing B and co must be, hard on you." Xander suppressed a groan, as Faith emphasised her point, by grabbing his crotch 'Help! I'm being raped!' He thought desperately, alternatively wishing he was elsewhere, and that Faith was elsewhere with him. Preferably somewhere private. With a king size bed. And whipped cream. He was shaken out of his daydream, by Faith's tongue in his ear "What I want you to know that it's haaard on me as well, and maybe, we could go somewhere, and... release some tension" She breathed. Passing by guys looked enviously at Xander, who was doing his 'deer caught in the headlights' impression, while women looked disapprovingly of Faith, who was very close to breaking the law. "What do you say?" 'Hell fucking yeah!!!!' Xander's subconscious shouted exuberantly. Xander smiled at Faith. "No" He said tenderly. Faith looked shocked. "What?!" She shouted. What? echoed Shoilin incredulously 'You, my friend, are a fucking moron. Riley is smarter than you' Xander winced. His subconscious was cruel. Faith backed up, hurt on her face. "Faith" Xander hastened to reassure her "I care for you. Truly. I don't want to rush into anything." 'Don't want to rush into things says the King of Cretins' his sub conscience snorted. Faith looked only partly mollified, indecision wavering on her face. "I don't understand, I thought we shared something, jeeze, I think I might, I might" She straightened her shoulders, gathering her courage "love you" She chuckled, looking away immediately. Xander winced at the self-depreciative tone in her voice "I get it though, girl like me, too..." Xander took her hands in his, shushing her. "Faith, I..." 'Say it, Harris' he commanded himself fiercely. He looked into himself, and found what he was looking for. "I love you" Faith looked at him for a long minute studying his face. Xander had never said anything with more honesty in his life, and he prayed that Faith could see that. She still look indecisive, and Xander felt a wave of pity for the girl who had been so hurt in her life, that she couldn't accept love. He carefully pulled her closer to him, her eyes, usually so hard, now vulnerable, staring into his "I love you" he whispered. She closed her eyes slowly, and Xander felt a pang of fear, which was wiped away when she opened them, and they were filled with love. They kissed, the kiss of two people truly in love, and the rest of LA faded away into insignificance.  
  
  
  
Authors note: Ah. Isn't that sweet? Just relax for a while, and feel good.  
  
  
  
"Please tell me you're joking. Guys? Seriously?" Angel could count the times he had been completely shocked on one hand. The first had been when Darla had bit him. This made two. Wesley and Cordelia, however, did not seem to recognise that monumental event, Wesley in particular, was particularly offended. The fact that he was marrying Cordelia wasn't all that preposterous, and there was no reason for Buffy to faint, or Angel to sit there like an idiot, or Spike (Who had heard the announcement and stuck around) to lie on the floor laughing. In fact, Wesley thought, annoyed, they were all acting rather immaturely. "Is it so far fetched that I would marry Cordelia?" He finally asked, insulted. This simply made Spike laugh harder, and Angel to look intently at Cordelia, as if wondering if she was under a spell. Wesley gritted his teeth. It was, in all, very tiresome. "Well, since you seem to be obtuse on this matter, I will take my leave." He stood up, giving Cordy a peck on the cheek, and marching out, stiffly. Buffy groaned, and groggily sat up, as Angel rushed to her side, concerned "Please tell me that was an incredibly tasteless dream. She saw Angel's pale face (heh), and Spike still laughing, and shook her head. "God, this been a long day" she stated, as Angel helped her up. She sighed thinking back to the strange encounter "I guess I'll have to phone Giles" Neither of them made a move, gazes locked. Spike picked himself off the ground, oblivious to the tension in the room, and still chuckling, walked out "Who needs Passions with this lot around." He mused.  
"Well, I'd better ring Giles" Buffy said, not moving.  
"Yes, its important" Angel softly answered, drawing closer to Buffy. Their lips closed the distance, but before they touched... "Buffy!" They snapped back and looked around to see Riley walk in, with a stupid smile on his face, wearing a pair of overalls. 'Overalls!?' Buffy screeched in her mind 'Buffy's new guy wears overalls?' Angel thought disbelievingly. Neither moved, as Riley looked around. "Nice place, this" He cheerfully stated. Buffy was dieing of embarrassment. The disbelieving amazed look on Angels face made her want to crawl under the bed and hide. "You must be Angel" Riley said, holding out a hand. Angel, still in shock held out his hand, to have it gripped by Riley. Riley was stupider than he looked (If that was possible) as he tried the old macho 'hand crush'. For some reason not realising that vampires had, on average, ten times human strength. Angel, easily able to crush Riley's hand into pulp if he wanted to, simply looked on, stunned, as Riley grimaced, squeezing with all his strength, doing no damage, what so ever, to the vampire. For Angel, this made three times. Buffy sunk deeper into the floor, seriously wondering if she could smash through it without the two noticing. Riley's, 'subtle' attempt to prove he was the man, along with Angel's passive disbelief equalled major Buffy embarrassment. Just as well Spike had left... "Hey Peaches, there's some bird on the phone..." Buffy shut her eyes, and willed herself to be elsewhere, as Spike entered the room, taking in the situation with a glance, Riley's red face, gritted teeth, and tensed arm muscles, Angel's expression of incredulous amazement, and Buffy herself, trying to be as small as possible, and did the only thing he could.   
  
"Hello?"  
"This is Kate"  
"Hi"  
"Angel, I saw the strangest thing earlier"  
"Being?"  
"Some... thing, flying overhead"  
"Big long shimmery red thing?"  
"How did you... wait, I don't want to know. What is it?"  
"A friend, of sorts"  
"Dangerous?"  
"Possibly, though I don't think he'll cause any trouble"  
"Ok, that's all I wanted to know, Angel?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Who's that laughing in the background?"  
"Spike"  
"...Right. Do I want to know?"  
"No."  
"Okay then. Bye"  
End Call  
  
Three hours later, Spike stopped laughing long enough to walk to the fridge, get some blood out, heat it in the microwave, and drink it. Then he started laughing again.  
  



	9. Greater Powers are at work

Madison Square Garden. The wrestling ring in the centre. 'WWF' written on the sides and 'FANFICTION' written in the centre. A sold out stadium. Signs littered the arena such as 'Joss is God!' , 'Stake Me!' , 'Ozmandayus for President', 'Y2Dark Dyer!', 'Stone Cold 3:16' and 'Fulgour is back!' The crowd cheers as the pyrotechnic show starts, accompanied by loud rock music. The music stops, and the cheering dies. A chant starts, slowly at first, by gains in volume. "Fulgour! Fulgour! Fulgour!" On cue, music hits 'Feeling, I've been lost for years...' A large roar starts in the stadium, as from the Gorilla position, a five foot eleven figure steps out onto the ramp and makes his way to the ring. "Ladies and Gentlemen! From Perth, Australia, weighing in at 80 kilograms, FULGOUR!" Light glints off his black armour, and his attached silver claws. He climbs the steps, and enters the ring, and takes the mike offered by the announcer.  
He holds the mike, and waits as the cheering slowly subsides. He takes one look around before raising the mike slowly to his mouth.   
"Finally, Fulgour has come back... to Fanfiction, dot, com."  
  
  
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"We have to go back."  
Xander sighed. He really didn't want to face them, but Faith was right. "Xand?" Faith prodded softly.  
"I know" He nodded. After the initial smoochies, they had walked around for the past hour, checking out LA, both very thankful for their respective healing abilities, which had stopped all lingering hang over. They had ended up at a coffee shop, sitting at an outside table, watching the world go by. They hadn't let go of each other's hand. Xander sat back in his chair, marvelling at how much had changed in such a short time. It was only two days ago that he had been a zeppo, with no close friends and no powers. Now he was a bad assed warrior, had a bad assed vamp backing him up, and a bad assed and beautiful... What? He sighed as he thought that over. Where did Faith fit in his life? He loved her, and she said that she loved him, but they hadn't really done anything coupley. Smooching didn't really count, as he could attest to from experience with Cordy. In reality, their 'love' could be nothing more than hormones. Which would explain why Faith had jumped him not long ago. To be honest, Faith never had a serious relationship before. Her creed was 'get some and get gone.' Maybe he was deluding himself. "Xander?" Xander looked up, stopping his inner monologue "Yeah?"  
Faith looked nervous, an expression unfamiliar on her "Do you..." She started before leaning back and sighing "God this is hard" Xander looked on with trepidation as she took a couple of deep breaths. Her free hand was shaking slightly. "Xander," She started again, as Xander sat closer, "Would you, I mean, do you wanna go for dinner with me tonight?" Faith squirmed back in her seat, resisting the impulse to close her eyes. Xander looked stunned. Faith's heart sank 'Stupid!' She fumed to herself 'God, girl, you should know better than that.' Her eyes started to sting, and she closed themin sorrow. "Faith..."  
"You don't have to say it" Faith interrupted, defeat etched in her voice.   
"What? Why?" Xander asked confused  
"I understand" Faith said in monotone  
"Faith, I have no idea what you're talking about" Xander responded, squeezing her hand. Faith immediately attempted to pull away, but Xander, quickly reverting his body to Spawn, held tight. "What the hell do you want from me!" Faith snapped, an angry tear coming to her eye as she struggled.  
Xander looked at her steadily before responding "Just you," Faith, struck dumb, stopped struggling, and looked quickly at him, hope and denial both shining in her eyes "Faith, I'd love to take you to dinner" Faith stared at him steadily for several long seconds, searching for deception, before smiling tremulously. Xander smiled back, and squeezed her hand reassuringly, though he was seething inside. Not at Faith, on the contrary, his relationship with her had made an extremely good turn. He was angry about the fact that someone, somewhere, had made unable to trust, unable to accept love. Perhaps that was changing. She did ask him to dinner. Bringing their entwined hands to his mouth, he kissed her hand softly, taking pleasure in her answering smile, feeling honoured that he was probably the only person to see close to the real Faith. "We should really get back, Buff will be worried." He stated, standing. Faith nodded, standing also, an innocent look on her face "Yeah, we wouldn't want to piss her off" Xander nodded distantly, trying to work out how exactly to get back to Angel's Hotel "Like, you know," Faith continued "Tell her to fuck herself for example" Xander whirled around in shock, at Faith, "What?" She asked innocently. Xander's face had gone red. Although he felt justified in what he said, he may have gone overboard. "I can't believe Spike told you." He muttered shame faced. Faith laughed, before wrapping an arm around him "Don't worry about it Xan, I mean, she'll be all right, as long as you don't have any deep dark secret you're hiding," Faith leaned in close to him before whispering in his ear "such as you're a demon"   
  
  
Lindsay exited the doors as fast as he politely could. He gently closed the door behind him, then sprinted to the elevator, hitting the button for the ground floor. Then, with adrenaline leaving his body he sank to the floor, listening to the reassuring beeps as the elevator counted the floors. His shirt was drenched in sweat, he noted absently. Wondering how long he was in there, he lifted his left hand to look at his watch, frowning as he realised that he was shaking to much to make out the time. Grasping his left hand firmly with his right, he was startled to note that he hadn't been in there for fifteen minutes. It had seemed like a lifetime.   
  
Back in the Senior Partners offices, the senior partners were in discussion. Seven large chairs faced a long conference desk. Lined in rank of seniority, with the first chair at the head, down to the seventh chair at the foot. The light in the room was so dim, that no details of the partners could be made out. A raspy voice from the third chair broke the silence "It would seem that another demon spawn has been called."  
"But to what purpose?" Asked the fifth chair  
"Perhaps Lucifer is ready to begin the End of Days" answered the fourth chair  
"Not likely, we would have heard" replied the seventh chair  
"Then to what end? Lucifer does not do anything without reason, let alone create a such a champion as a demon spawn" stated the second chair  
"Perhaps to defeat Angel, it is written that he will prevent the End of Days" answered the fifth chair  
"That is likely," admitted the fourth chair  
"We cannot allow that to happen. If the Spawn succeeds..." Said the third chair  
"What action do we take? To face a Spawn directly is to invite defeat." Interrupted the seventh chair  
"Set others to defeat him." Announced the fifth chair  
"Who? Not Angel, that is what Lucifer would want" answered the fourth chair  
"The Vampire Slayer, Buffy Summers." Stated the seventh chair  
"No, there are plans for her" replied the sixth chair  
The first chair cleared its throat. The other chairs immediately fell silent.  
"I know whom to send"   
  
  
Back at Angel's hotel, Riley was carefully making plans. He had requested a high powered rifle, and had finally received it. He picked up the black shielded briefcase, swung it on his bed, and snapped open the locks, then opened it. A Blaser Jagdwaffen R93 Sniper Rifle .308 Winchester, 42 inches when fully assembled, weighing 12 LBS. Had an effective range of 800 metres. Riley softly ran his fingers over the disassembled parts in awe. This was not a soldiers weapon, not something you would find GI Joe waving around, or any gangster or wanna be villain. This was the real deal. This was a professional snipers weapon. A professional assassins weapon. 'I guess that's what I am now' thought Riley, warming to the idea 'a professional assassin. Just like the movie 'The Professional' that's me'. Riley picked up a bullet and looked at it closely. The brass, copper and lead gleamed from the lamp light, and to Riley, it was a beautiful sight. "Tonight, you are going to enter the head of Buffy, and kill her" He told the bullet, rolling it between his fingers. "Tonight is the night."  
  
Ring Ring!  
"Hello, this is the Magic Box, how may I help you?"  
"Giles? This is Wesley"  
"Wesley? It's good to hear from you"  
"You too, old chap. I searched for that demon, 'Spawn'..."  
"And?"  
"He is an extremely powerful demon. Very dangerous. Fascinating actually, how its power combines..."  
"Wesley,"  
"Oh, sorry. Anyway, a Spawn, otherwise known as a Demon Spawn was originally a human, who was offered power by the hell god Lucifer."  
"Good lord, Lucifer himself?"  
"Yes, apparently he is the only hell god powerful enough to create it. Anyway, Lucifer offers the human power. Superhuman strength, speed, invulnerable to most damage."  
"And the catch?"  
"The Spawn is placed in charge of Lucifer's army, and has to lead them at the End of Days"  
"...What?"  
"The 'End of Days' refers to a passage in both the Catholic Bible and the Xedox texts..."  
"I know what the bloody end of days are, don't patronise me!"  
"No offence intended Giles, I simply..."  
"No, I apologise, Wesley it's just that..."  
"Oh, no no, it is I who is at fault, Giles, my sincerest apologies..."  
"Oh no, really I must take the blame, I apologise for blowing up"  
"Really Rupert you wouldn't have blown up if I hadn't provoked you, I apologise..."  
-Some time later-  
"So we agree? We were both at fault."  
"Exactly."  
"So what were you saying about the End of Days?"  
"Apparently, Lucifer tried to take over the world before, however, some force stopped him."  
"Do you know who?"  
"No, neither I nor the council have any idea. Anyway, after his attempt failed, he realised that it was because while his army was strong, his generals, while physically strong, had little useful knowledge about battle. He concluded that he needed a general that was intelligent in the ways of war, was cunning, and could adapt quickly. He spend centuries studying various demon types, before concluding that none were suitable. It was then that he turned his interest to humans."  
"What happened then?"  
"He realised that human's were the most innovative and adaptive species in the universe, able to adapt to any environment and thrive. The only downside was their frail bodies."  
"Thus Spawn?"  
"Thus Spawn."  
"How does it work, like a vampire or some such?"  
"No, quiet the contrary. From what I have researched, Spawn is a remarkable demon, in that rather than taking over it's human host, such as a vampire does, it melds with the human. Thus the human still has a soul, and is still relatively human. The demon aids him, and can apparently communicate with him. Much like a vampire, Spawn can appear completely human, until he is attacked, or calls upon Spawn. Apparently it calls some sort of body armour, as well as a mask, thus shielding its entire body"  
"What does it look like?"  
"The armour is black and grey, it has glowing green eyes, and a long red cape."  
"... A cape"  
"Yes"  
"..."  
"Apparently it provides the Spawn with some abilities. I will fax down a picture."  
"Thank you, Wesley"  
"Giles?"  
"Yes?"  
"If you are facing one of these, be very careful. From what I have read, no Spawn has ever been defeated in one on one combat."  
"Oh! How exactly do you defeat them?"  
"I believe the only way is to cut off it's head. Be careful Giles."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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End Note: For all of you out there who reviewed, my sincerest thanks. I have tried to get back to most of you, but please don't be pissed if I missed you. Rather, review again! Secondly, for all of those who wanted a B/F/X ship (and there was a damn lot of you!) Sorry, but frankly I doubt I could have written it well.   
  
Please Review! Remember, its your reviews that shape the story.  
  
Finally, as for the sniper rifle Riley has, I believe it's a real weapon but I'm not sure. Don't take my word for it. 


	10. Just when you thought is was over... (a)

Authors Note: Thanks for all the positive feedback, keep it up!   
  
BTW: I've copped a bit of flack about how I portray Buffy. I know that I make out Buffy as a bad guy in some of my stories, but ya got to love the Buffsta. In time I will write a story (Yet untitled) to satisfy those out there that think I hate Buffy.  
  
  
Authors Note2 IMPORTANT!: To those who had asked that I make this a Buffy/Spike fic, let me make clear my stance on the whole BS thing. I have not and will not ever write a Buffy/Spike fic. I have nothing against Spike - I like the guy in fact, but in no way does he go well with Buffy. The whole soulless killer thing aside, Buffy had a vampire 'soul mate' and has learnt that it doesn't work out. And having Spike fall in love with Buffy, his mortal enemy, is simply an insult to his character, and should have never happened. Remember the Spike of season two? He was a bad ass, and what he did was kick ass and take names. Season four was much the same, the only difference was he was stuck with helping the Scoobies because of his chip. I admit, that in this story, I use Spike's whole 'feelings' thing to make him have friends, but at the end of the day, he's still a bad ass. The whole 'follow Buffy around on his knees' thing is simply pathetic, and at odds with what he was like for season two to four.  
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Xander was a happy man. Although Buffy was probably going to take a few stripes off his hide, he felt that he could take it. Hell, if things went well, their friendship would be stronger than ever. All of this was due to one thing. The dark haired goddess currently holding his hand. After his initial shock and fear, Faith had laughed and reassured him that she didn't care that he was a demon. 'If B can give Angel a happy, then there can't be anything wrong with me giving you one" She had smiled, leaving him relieved. Until he actually thought about what she had said. Which caused his to go to a very nice place in his mind. Until Faith smacked him over the head. "Ow! What was that for?" Xander yelped indignantly, rubbing his head. Faith had just laughed. Yep, things were fine, Xander mused to himself. They had been walking a while, but the distinctive shape of the hotel loomed over them. Walking closer, the door opened, and Buffy emerged. Xander and Faith stopped, and waited as Buffy approached, an inscrutable expression on her face. She stopped, several feet from them. "Faith" Buffy greeted   
"B" Faith nodded. Buffy turned her eyes to Xander who unconsciencly grasped Faith's hand, who squeezed his in support. Gathering his courage, he met Buffy's eyes, "Buffy..." A finger to his lips silenced him. Buffy's eyes had filled with tears, and her bottom lip was quivering. They looked in each others eyes, seeing what they wanted to see - Buffy saw forgiveness, Xander saw guilt and self recrimination. Taking a step forward at the same time, they threw their arms around each other in a crushing hug. "Xan, I'm so sorry" She whispered in his ear, sobs wracking her body. Xander rubbed her back reassuringly, and held on tight. Faith smiled to see the two friends reunited, and stepped around them, entering the hotel.   
  
Riley assembled the rifle with care. It had been a while since he had used one and he didn't want to fuck it up. Carefully, he assembled the barrel, screwing it into the stock, then snapped the scope into place. Holding the gun one hand, he placed the bolt in with care, then worked the action a couple of times to loosen it, before opening it, and placing the gleaming bullet in. Closing the bolt, he moved to the window, and placed the end of the barrel on the window sill, so the gun did not become an obvious bulge out of the building. Squinting into the scope, he could see Xander hugging Buffy. Frowning in concentration, he settled the cross hairs on the back of Buffy's head. Taking a deep breath, to steady his heart, and thus his aim, he held still, and the cross hair steadied on Buffy's head. He was briefly disappointed that he wouldn't kill Xander as well, who he had never liked, but mentally shrugged, and gently squeezed the trigger.   
  
  
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This is (obviously) Not a whole chapter, jeeze, I wouldn't release a chapter this small, but who could ignore the obvious cliff hanger? Hey! It's only... Look, the end of this chapter will be out by the end of Saturday! Promise! Fine! Be like that! 


	11. The Shiteth has hiteth the faneth (b)

Hi, I'm really sorry it took me so long to post this, but it's pretty much one of the most important chapters, so I wanted to make sure it was done right. Also the cliffhanger... :) 

Thanks goes to all you reviewers, keep 'em coming! 

*Warning! This chapter lives up to it's R Rating.* 

Special Thanks goes to Boulder, for all his help and advice. 

To answer 'fanboy's review, all references I have for Spawn come from the movie. Everything else I have created to fit into the Buffy universe. 

To those of you who are not happy about the relative slow pace of the last few chapters, this should spice things up a bit for you. 

Without any further ado, I now present; The Wrath of Hell; Just When you Thought it was Over, part b. 

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Too late, Riley realized that he had left the window closed. "Oh, shit!" He muttered, looking in blank surprise at the broken glass in front of him, shards gently cascading, landing in a musical tinkle onto the pavement. No matter, he thought grimly, the distance isn't great enough to effect the accuracy. 

Xander sighed happily. Everything was right in the world again. Buffy clung to him, desperate for forgiveness, which he was more than happy to give. "It's all right Buff" he murmured to her. 

"No it's not, I should never have..." A flicker of movement in an upstairs window caught his eye and he focussed on it curiously 'must be Deadboy seeing what was up' he thought to himself. As it was day, it made sense that he wouldn't be able to emerge from the building... Sniper! Shoilin yelled in his mind. Reacting instinctively, Xander morphed into Spawn. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. The window smashed, glass cascaded down in a of colour and sound. A bullet inched towards them, as if in the Matrix. Riley's face behind the gun. Things sped up, and Xander spun around, using his momentum to throw Buffy to safety, during his spin, his cape extended, flying above him, and as his back was to the hotel, it acted as a shield, 'catching' the bullet. Completing his revolution, his cape shrunk back down to normal length, and his eyes smoked in anger. The slug dropped to the ground with a click. 

Buffy tumbled to the ground in confusion. "Xander, what..." Her words died as she looked at what had become of her friend. "Spawn" She whispered disbelievingly. All this time, Xander was the demon. Slowly making her way to her feet, she stepped cautiously closer. Spawn - 'Xander' she corrected in her mind, had not moved, his back facing her. Why would he simply throw her? 'Xander?" She asked timidly. 

Xander was seeing red. Angrier than he had ever been before. 'I'm gonna get you, farmboy' he screamed in his mind. Shoilin coughed politely If you really want to do that, the fastest way up there is to use your chains 'How?' Xander queried Use the force Xander blinked. 'Tell me you didn't just make a joke, you being an evil demon in my head.' Well, er, look; just think about what you want to do, and do it 'Thanks for the help. An instruction manual, you're not.' Shoilin sighed in his mind How do you more your arm? You just do. Its the same with your armour Xander stood for a minute, thinking about what Shoilin had said. It made perfect sense suddenly. In an instant, he was aware of what his armour could do, and how to do it. Looking at his arm, he grinned under his mask as blades popped out of his knuckles and forearm. 'Riley, your ass is mine!' 

(AN: Yes, its the moment we've all been waiting for, please save all applause for the end...) 

Jumping ten feet into the air, Spawn activated his chains, which whipped out from his armour, and clamped into the wall either side of the window Riley had shot from. Like a Spawn shaped sling shot, he crashed through the window, rolled, and ended up on his feet, facing a surprised Riley. "You!" Riley yelled. Spawn stepped closer at a deliberate pace. Riley smoothly drew his pistol, aiming it at Spawn's head in the classic Weaver's two handed stance. Spawn kept coming. Riley smirked, glancing at his pistol. It was a Berretta 9mm, a well known pistol, trusted for it's ease of use and reliability. It held fifteen bullets, and that would be more than enough to take out this freak. Spawn stopped, and cocked his head to one side. Riley grinned "Look, demon, what I'm going to do is..." Spawn ducked, causing Riley to instinctively shoot. The bullet hit the far wall, just as Spawn swept the legs out from under him. Riley landed hard on his back, air expelled from his lungs in a forceful rush, his gun thrown across the room to land near the door. Ignoring the pain, Riley quickly rolled to his feet, taking a defensive stance,. Far from beaten, Riley pulled out a switchblade from an inside pocket. Shaken slightly, but feeling more confident with the blade in his hand, he advanced slowly towards Spawn, who had dropped into a semi-crouch. 

Spawn watched, as Riley cautiously stepped forward, holding his knife in a style Shoilin whispered was standard Special Forces. Obviously the schmuck knew how to use it. Riley lunged forward, catching Spawn by surprise and slashed across the armoured chest. Spawn hissed slightly in annoyance at the stinging pain across his chest, leaving a green line, which quickly disappeared. Riley lunged again, this time for his throat. Spawn leant back, causing the swipe to go wide, and replied with a quick combination of jabs that sent Riley back, his face bloodied. Riley staggered back, only keeping to his feet through sheer tenacity. Spawn snarled while Riley tried to regain his balance, and before the Iowa boy could prepare, stepped forward with a side kick to the chest at full power. Riley flew through the air, ribs breaking with an audible snap. Riley crashed into the far wall, several feet in the air, leaving a large hole in the plaster, as he fell to the ground. Spawn paused, surveying his fallen opponent. Riley was only semiconscious, a stream of blood emerging from his mouth. Kill him Shoilin whispered. Spawn walked forward, several blades emerging from his knuckles of both hands. Spawn stood over Riley, and drew back a fist. That's it! Shoilin encouraged. Spawn hesitated. His blood was pumping through his veins, the anticipation of the kill causing his mouth to water. But was it right to take a human life? He was going to kill Buffy, for no reason. Surely he must be killed Shoilin persuaded. Spawn remained motionless for a second, his spiked fist still poised over Riley. A million thoughts ran through his head, one coming to the fore. "I'm not a killer" Xander spoke aloud as his mask withdrew, though still standing above Riley. You are a killer, that was the deal! Shoilin sounded more frustrated then angry, and Xander sighed, 'I'm not going to kill anyone' he stated firmly in his mind We'll see Xander stood, shaking his head and backed off. 

Riley blinked hard, trying to clear his head. He made to stand, when an uncomfortable object underneath him made him remember the gun. Moving quickly, Riley forced himself to a knee, and scooped up the gun. Spawn had turned, his mask covering his face. Riley's eyes opened wide in disbelief "Xander?" He asked in surprise, before his mouth curved into a smile "Guess this is my lucky day" His hand shook as he tried to ignore the pain and keep a bead. Spawn jumped towards Riley, who, still on a knee, shot two fast bullets - a 'double tap' - into Spawn's head. Spawn fell back, the pain excruciating, and his vision destroyed. Riley quickly staggered to his feet, and wove his way across to where Spawn was lying. Keeping his gun firmly aimed at Spawn, he grinned as he looked at the demon's face. "Ha! Killed you! One down, one to go." Turning to a radio, he made to pick it up, before turning back, quickly, and emptying the rest of the clip into Spawn's chest. "Always wanted to do that." Riley murmured, shakily wiping some blood from his face with the back of his hand, unaware that he was simply spreading it more. He turned, wincing at the pain in his chest his movement caused, grabbing the radio and switching it on. 

"Beta Control?" 

"Receiving." 

"This is Riley, serial number 301246" 

"Go ahead." 

"Target two has been terminated." 

"Target one?" 

"Will be killed before the day is out." 

"Agent, how is it that you have eliminated a target that was only signed for termination today, but you haven't yet killed Buffy?" 

"Sir, its been harder than expected, she..." 

"Enough, Agent. You have two days to finish the hit." 

"Sir" 

Riley turned off the radio with a sigh "Why is it my fault? Sending me after all these damn supernatural..." Still rambling, Riley turned to look at the body. And blinked at the empty space on the ground. Space where there should be a bullet ridden corpse. Not fourteen slugs lying on the ground. Looking around, Riley felt a drip on his shoe. Looking at it, he saw a small drop of green liquid on it. Looking up, Riley found himself staring into two glowing eyes. "Oh fu..." 

"No." 

"Aw, come on." 

"Spike, no means no." 

"Just once?" 

"How many times are we going to have this conversation?" 

"Look, its not like I'm asking for much, is it?"  
"I'm not going to do... That! What do you think I am?" 

"Well..." 

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." 

"For me?" 

"I wouldn't do it for anyone, much less you. You know what he'll do when he wakes up."  
"Have you got something against me?" 

"Apart from the fact that you're an evil demon?" 

"Hey! I... Wait... That's right! If you don't do it, I'll bite you" 

"..." 

"Or not" 

"Why do you want to do that to him anyway?" 

"Just look at it!" 

"... Okay, maybe it should be done, but not by me." 

"I'd do it myself, but you know I can't!" 

"Why? You afraid?" 

"Bloody hell Faith, I'm not worried about him, It's Buffy I'm worried about" 

  
Willow watched on in amusement as the argument continued, looking up as Tara entered the room. "Hey, sweety" She called out softly. Tara smiled in return, and snuggled into the sofa. "What are they arguing about?" Tara asked, pointing to an extremely animated Spike, who was literally bouncing around the room, and Faith, who was standing across from him, her arms crossed, with a half frustrated half amused look on her face. Willow smirked. "Spike is trying to convince Faith to shave Angel's head while he's asleep." 

Tara snorted loudly at that image, causing Spike and Faith to look around at her. Tara went red as the attention in the room moved to her, and sank deeper into the cushions "Sorry" She murmured into her chest. Faith smiled sympathetically, and walked over to the two witches. "Hey." She smiled "I'm Faith." 

"T, t, t, Tara" Tara smiled weakly in return. 

Faith switched her gaze to Willow, who's eyes had hardened as soon as Faith had moved towards them. "Hey Willow" Faith greeted softly. 

"Faith" Willow stiffly replied. 

Faith sighed. This was going to be harder than she had thought. "Look, Willow, I just want to say." She broke off, a loud bang from above catching her attention "What the?" 

Angel emerged from his room, shaking his head "What was that?", Everyone shrugged. Buffy slammed through the door entering the lobby, and raced up the stairs. A series of bangs echoed through the hall, though not as loud as the first. "A gun" Angel stated quietly. The two vampires looked at each other, before racing up the stairs. Faith turned, attempting to follow, "Immobile" a voice whispered from behind her. Suddenly Faith was frozen in her tracks, unable to move. Growing fearful, she struggled, stuck in her pose. Willow walked around to where Faith could see her "I don't trust you, Faith." She stated quietly "I don't know what's happening, but I don't trust you." Faith snarled inaudibly as Willow gazed at her levelly before calmly walking up the stairs. Buffy ran, her heart hammering. Quickly ascending the three floors, she made her way to the door of the room she had seen Spawn entering, barely aware of the vampires on her tail, not slowing she hit the door so hard, it flew off its hinges, smashing against the wall opposite. Spinning to study the room, she was shocked to see Xander in Spawn's body armour standing in the room, which was drenched in blood and entrails. Fighting down vomit, she paled as she recognized Riley's head, which was lying on the ground near her feet, eyes staring blankly. Xander spun around to face Buffy, his eyes lightly smoking green "Buffy..." Buffy didn't hear what Xander was saying. A murderous rage came upon her, and she lashed out with a crescent kick full power to Xander's face. 

The scent of blood and death was overwhelming. Riley looked like a rag doll someone had let the dog loose on, then covered in ketchup. Intestines decorated the room in a gruesome display. In the middle, stood Spawn. 'I killed him' Xander was in shock. He had killed a man. Riley lay on the ground in several pieces. Spawn had decapitated him with his chains, much like the first vampire. His body had been destroyed by the spiked fists. Xander fought the urge to throw up. Inside his head, Shoilin was doing a snoopy dance. Yeah! Oh Yeah! OH Yeah! Yeah yeah yeah! Woa! Kick ass! You Rock! Xander swayed on his feet, his powerful demonic body the only thing keeping him from crashing on the ground. Xander sadly looked at his armoured hands, now covered in red blood. His mask disappeared, and he sighed, closing his eyes. Riley might have been a murderous asshole, and he might of deserved to die, but that didn't change the fact that it was Xander who had killed him. Bloodlust had taken over, and Spawn had taken pleasure in Riley's destruction, Xander's own conscience had been suppressed from the enormous pain of fourteen bullets. He had quickly come to, but not quickly enough to save Riley from being torn apart. A loud bang caused him to turn in suprise, as the door flew inwards as if hit by something or someone very powerful, and he tensed when Buffy entered the room. Locking eyes with the slayer, he hastened to explain "Buffy, I'm sorry, please..." A full powered kick from a slayer would hurt Spawn. What it would do to an unprotected human face is to burst it into pulp. What saved Xander from a gross death was a combination of his demon - which managed to take some of the damage; not much though, as he was demasked, and fast reactions, which threw him backwards with he blow. Unfortunately for Xander, this threw him into the air, and out the smashed window, unconscience. 

Buffy slowly dropped to her knees, starting to weep. She couldn't bring herself to look at the room any more. Right now, things where to much for her, and she turned fleeing from the room. 

Angel had almost made it to the door, when Buffy barreled past him, sobbing. "Buffy?" He called after her. She paid no attention, not stopping her rush. Angel looked towards Spike who shrugged, and gestured to the door. The two vampires entered the room. The smell hit them, and their faces automatically morphed into their demonic visage. "Oh god!" Angel gasped weakly, surveying the carnage. Spike whistled appreciatively "Pretty impressive" Spike turned to Angel, who was looking distinctively queasy "Oh, come on Angelus!" Spike snorted at the souled vampires reaction "It's not like we haven't done worse." Spike frowned at that thought "Though it has been a while..." Trailing off into thought, Spike sat on a chair, which some how managed to survive intact, while Angel needlessly gulped air, trying to steady himself. "Hey! Look at this, Angel!" Angel turned at Spike's entirely too cheerful tone, to see that he had picked up Riley's head. "Oy! Look at me!" Spike spoke in falsetto, working Riley's jaw with his free hand, a gruesome parody of a puppet. Angel swallowed with difficulty "My name's Riley, and I'm a wanker from Utah who likes sheep allot" Spike grinned, and turned his face to look at Riley with a mock look of suprise, while turning Riley's face to look at him, manipulating Riley's mouth to form a smile, before turning both back to Angel. Angel's face had gone even more pale, and he kept his composure with difficulty, walking out of the room. Spike sighed as Angel left, before turning to look at the head. 

"Guess it's just you an' me now, sport." 

The silence in the room was broken by a loud grumble. 

"Sorry mate, this smell is making me hungry." 

Silence. 

"You know, I never figured you for a quiet one." 

Silence. 

"A stupid one, definitely, but not a silent one." 

More silence. 

"I'm actually beginning to like you." 

Even more silence. 

"You know when to keep your mouth shut." 

Willow made her way up the stairs, to have Buffy run into her. Whispering a quick spell saved her from a tumble, and she looked in concern at Buffy, who had sank to the ground in tears. "Buffy, what is it?" She asked, sitting down next to the slayer, wrapping an arm around her. 

"Riley." Buffy managed to whisper, before collapsing against Willow in tears. Willow held on tight, trying to soothe the distraught blonde. Footsteps coming down the hall caught her attention, and she was surprised and a little frightened to see Angel looking slightly sick. She looked to him, questions in her eyes. Angel simply shook his head, spotting Buffy, awkwardly sat on the step next to her, patting her shoulder. 

Buffy sobbed into Willow's shoulder for several minutes, before finally quieting. Spike came down the stairs whistling a jaunty tune, a bounce in his step, and a develish gleam in his eye "Excuse me ladies!" He smiled, vaulting the three easily, landing at the railing at the next floor down, in an extremely good mood. The three 'ladies' ignored him. Willow gently stroked Buffy's hair, while she sat, her face in Willow's shoulder. Buffy mumbled something Willow couldn't pick up. "Buffy I didn't hear you" Willow stated softly. Buffy didn't move, but spoke louder. "Xander. Xander is a dead man." 

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What do you think? Was it well worth the wait? 


	12. Consequences

Hey all, miss me? Don't answer that. 

As always, thanks goes out to you wonderful reviewers, Keep 'em coming! 

Special thanks goes to Goblinfortytwo, for letting me use a quote from one of his stories, 'And Buffy makes four' (See below) 

GILES: If what Willow and Xander have told me is true, then Angel assisted in doing away with the Master. 

Angel looks at Xander. 

ANGEL: Assisted?. 

XANDER: Assisted well. 

ANGEL: I cut both his arms off. 

XANDER: Don't think it wasn't appreciated. 

- Goblinfortytwo - And Buffy makes four 

- I know this isn't something from the actual show, but I thought it was damn funny. 

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Giles sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately, but he felt justified. His group of children had fallen apart. Add that to the arrival of the Spawn, things were looking grim. Sighing once more, Giles pulled the next book out of his shelf, and flipped it open. He had just gotten to 'Ancient demonology - Hellbeasts' when the silence in the Magic Box was broken by his phone ringing. He ignored it though, and kept reading as Amy picked the phone up. 

"Magic Box, Amy speaking... Hi Willow! How's things! Did you find Xander? What? I don't... Really?" Giles looked up as Amy's voice became slightly fearful. Amy motioned him over. "Giles, you'd better talk to Willow" Giles nodded and took the receiver from Amy, who walked off, a slightly dazed look on his face. 

"Willow? This is Giles." 

"Giles, Riley's dead." 

"What? What happened?" 

"Xander, it was Xander cause Xander is Spawn, and he killed Riley, he ripped him apart, the room is covered in blood, there's blood everywhere, and Buffy wants to kill Xander and I don't know what to do, and Faith is siding with Xander and I don't..." 

"Willow, calm down. Where is Xander now." 

"I don't know, Buffy knocked him out of the window, I don't know if he ran off, or if Faith got him away." 

"Willow, listen carefully. If Xander is indeed Spawn, then he is extremely dangerous. Ask Wesley about Spawn, as he has resources on Spawn that I don't." 

"Ok. Giles, I don't want Xander gone, I don't..." 

"Willow, it will be all right. Xander may not have to be stopped, from what Wesley told me, Spawn may in fact be a beneficial member of our group." 

"But Giles, he killed Riley!" 

"mumbling Sodding soldier had it coming" 

"What?" 

"Nothing, do as I told you, Willow, I'm coming to LA, I should be there by tomorrow morning." 

"Good, Ok, bye" 

"Goodbye" 

Giles hung up with a sigh. Things had become worse. Giles looked around with yet another sigh, taking his glasses off and absently rubbing the lenses. "At least things can't get worse." He murmured. 

The atmosphere in the Command Centre was tense. Colonel Meriden swore loudly as he read the report again. Not only had Agent Riley failed in his mission to kill Buffy, not only did he fail to kill 'Spawn', he managed to get himself killed. The Colonel looked up at the nervous faces of his officers. "Agent Riley failed." He stated calmly. "However, that does not mean that the mission is scrapped," He announced forcefully as the others looked down. "Failure is not an option!" He yelled, abruptly standing, his face turning red as his officers flinched and tried to avoid his gaze. "We've been on the bad list ever since that Adam disaster! Another screw up, and our funding will be cut!" Meriden sighed and sat back down, taking a deep breath and counting to ten. "What are we going to do?" He asked calmly. 

"Perhaps we could send a black ops squad to take care of them." A young lieutenant offered nervously. 

"No," Meriden sighed "Riley was a highly capable soldier, if he failed, sending a squad would just attract attention." 

Meriden sat back and rubbed his head wearily. A captain stood up "Sir, I think a black ops team would be the most suitable solution." 

"What do we know about the targets?" Meriden asked after a short pause. 

The captain glanced down at some papers in front of him "Target one, Buffy Summers, has abnormal strength, speed, and healing capabilities." He paused and examined his papers more closely "Our scientists are unable to explain the source of these powers without detailed study on her." 

"Is she human?" Asked the lieutenant. The captain glared at him for a second, causing the lieutenant to back down, before answering "As far as we can tell, yes. The closest theory that the scientists agree on is that she has some sort of mutation." 

"So how can we kill her?" Asked the Colonel 

"Most likely she would die just as a normal human." The Captain answered. The Captain looked around the table looking for any more questions, but none more were forthcoming. 

"The second target?" Asked the Colonel. 

The Captain sighed. He didn't want to answer this. "We only have preliminary reports from our scouts..." The captain trailed off, 

"And?" Asked the Colonel brusquely 

"Target two has the designation 'Spawn'. We believe that he can morph into a completely human state at will. What we know of his abilities is that he is extremely quick, and strong, regeneration, and has, well" The captain coughed self consciously "Chains that extend from his abdomen" 

The quiet lasted several seconds "Anything else?" The colonel asked quietly. 

"Not that we are aware of." 

"Do we know the human identity of this HST?" 

"No sir." 

The colonel shuffled the papers on his desk nervously for a few seconds "Captain, what about our... Other source?" 

The captain shifted his weight from foot to foot, quickly translating the document in his hand into acceptable terms before answering "Our... Source, has told us that the HST is named a 'Demon Spawn', a human given power by an extremely powerful HST called a 'hellgod'. Apparently this hellgod offers the human a bargain, and if accepted, the human is transformed into the Demon Spawn." 

None of the officers looked at each other, all aware that they were walking a thin line between science and magic. It was a line none of them wanted to cross. "Ho, How exactly does this change take place?" The colonel asked awkwardly, not sure that he wanted to know. The captain stuttered for a minute before finding a way out "I believe that the human may be bitten, or some way infected by the hellgod." Small smiles all around. 

"How do we kill it?" Asked the lieutenant, who looked down quickly as the combined glares of the room burned into him. 

"Our source informed us that the only ways to kill a Hell Spawn are decapitation, or extreme fatigue." 

"You mean wearing it out will kill it?" The Colonel asked in interest. The Captain shook his head. 

"It takes more than that, the HST must be extremely fatigued, and constantly damaged until its healing capabilities fail." 

The colonel sat back in his chair, deep in thought. "Send a black op team after Target one." He ordered. Heads nodded around the table. "As for target two, we don't have enough information at this time. Thomas." The lieutenant jumped to his feet in an instant "Send a surveillance team to track this 'Spawn'. After we find its weakness, we'll strike." 

Xander groaned as he opened his eyes. The left half of his face was throbbing painfully, and felt like it had swollen up to several times its size. "Oh, shit" He murmured trying not to move. A welcoming damp cloth was placed against his forehead, and he leaned into it, opening his eyes. Faith was staring down at him, a concerned look on her face. 

"Jeeze Xand, you really worried me." She exhaled, relieved that Xander had finally woken. 

"Whe, Where am I?" He croaked, his mouth dry. 

"Safe," Faith soothed, looking around the cheap hotel room. Xander slowly sat up, Faith helping him as he shook off a dizzy spell. 

"Whatever I did last night, remind me not to do again" Xander groaned, holding his head. Faith gave a nervous laugh 

"I don't think you can kill Riley again, Xan, I mean..." Xander froze at her words, and in an instant, the memories came back 

"No" he whispered, not hearing Faith. Memories rushed through his brain, blood, pain, death. "No!" Xander yelled, rushing away from the bed, trying to get away from himself, coming to a stop at the wall. "No." He sighed, resting his head against the wall, squeezing his eyes shut tight, trying to block out the memories. "Please no" He whispered, trying to stop the tears, the gut aching torment. He stiffened as arms wrapped around him from behind and a head rested on his back, before relaxing, and turning into Faith's embrace. "It's Okay Xander, we'll get through this" She whispered comfortingly into his ear. 

"God Faith, I killed him" He sobbed, wrapping his arms tightly around the raven haired slayer "I killed him" 

"I know, it's all right" Faith murmured, hugging Xander tighter to her. As he shook in sorrow and shock, she swore to herself that she wouldn't leave Xander, that she would do everything she could to help him get through this, as he had done for her. "We'll get through this" She whispered again. 

Deep in the pits of hell, at the seventh layer, in a fiercy chamber, a discussion between a short fat clown, and a large shadow was taking place. "Boss, I don't get it. I mean, why turn that kid into a Spawn? He never was a bad guy, why would he start now? The kids using his power for" At this, the Clown's lips curled up in disgust "good" He spat the word out. The shadow did not answer. Oblivious, the Clown rambled on "And it's not like we're ready for the End of Days just yet, I mean hey, I'd like to take over the earth as much as the next evil Clown, but jeeze. If anything, we've worse off now." The silence was ominous. Sensing that perhaps his master was not in the mood to talk, the Clown tried to back out of the chamber "Well, I'm sure you know what you're doing, hey! Look at the time, I gotta run, people to torture and all..." His rambling was cut short by booming laughter. The shadow turned to face the Clown, who flinched instinctively "Little Clown, I have no intention to start the End of Days for at least another four hundred years." 

Clown looked at the shadow in surprise "Then why?"  
Booming laughter echoed through the chamber again, and despite himself the Clown shivered at the pure evil of it. The shadow paused for a second, contemplating something held in his hand. 

"A chess player moves his pieces to best disadvantage his opponent." The Clown watched in fascinated fear, as the Shadow carefully placed the thing on the ground, A distinctive white shape in the black background. "On the other hand," The shadow continued, a wave of his hand causing the white object to slide across the ground to the Clown, who squatting awkwardly, trapped it between his hands. "A master causes his opponent to disadvantage himself" 

The Clown squinted, carefully opening his hands, revealing the object underneath. A white knight. 

"Go to the Spawn, guide him" The Clown nodded, still looking slightly puzzled, and quickly left. 

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DUM DUM! Will the Initiative kill Buffy? Will Buffy Kill Xander? What is Lucifer's plan? Did Joyce record Passions? 

  
All These questions and more answered next time on: (Drum roll please) 

THE WRATH OF HELL! 


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